Adjusting From Ignorance
by Englasu
Summary: *Completed* *sequel to Walking Through Despair* Kaiba's made peace with Yugi and everyone finally... Unfortunetly life isn't done messing with him. Seto/Tea
1. Beginning Anew

((Welcome back my people! * bows before everyone * This be the sequel to "Walking Through Despair"! I hope you like it as much as the other * crosses fingers * Well, I'm going to shut up now and give you the story actually now. Keep in mind that I'm basically picking up from right where I left off. but I'll give time and stuff so. whatever. On with the fic!!!))  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters. I just use them ^_^!!!  
  
Kaiba walked into his house after school that day. Going into the kitchen he grabbed a knife and put it down on the counter as he went to the fridge and looked through it. Pulling out an apple he went back and leaned against the counter as he slowly shaved the skin off, as he got lost in his train of thought. 'It's been about a two weeks hasn't it?' He stopped in mid slice and looked at the knife before shaking his head and continuing. 'It hasn't been that bad. I think making peace with Joey and everyone has really helped. They don't seem to mind as much anymore.' Peeling off the last bit he threw it in the trash and took a bite from the fruit. 'I wonder how she's doing anyway. Probably at the game shop. Maybe she's hungry.'  
  
He took his cell phone out and punched in the number.  
  
"Gardner residence. Who is it?"  
  
"Hey, this is Seto. Is Tea in?"  
  
"I'm sorry she's not here right now. Can I take a message?"  
  
"No. That's fine. Do you have any idea when she'll be back?"  
  
"Around four thirty."  
  
"Ok, thank you." He hung up the phone and looked at his watch. 3:33. He shrugged and shoved the phone back in his pocket as he took the last bite from the apple and chucked the core in the trashcan. Walking up into his office he shut the door behind him and sat down at his computer 'I'll work until five. Tea should be back by then. I'll call again later.' He started typing as his mind worked the programs and dinner plans at the same time. 'Maybe we should get Chinese. Takeout possibly. I bet she'd like that. Anyways, then we could just stay here.' Kaiba still wasn't comfortable with the concept of spending a lot of time in public. He'd finally gotten used to eating lunch with Tea and Yugi and everyone, and that was still sort of stretching it.  
  
He continued playing ideas through his mind as he typed until he looked over at the clock and it was 5:05. With a little smirk he turned off the computer and pulled out his cell phone.  
  
Ring. Ring. Ring.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi Tea."  
  
"Hey! Mom said you called earlier."  
  
"Yeah, I was wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat. Or you could just come over here and we could get take-out?"  
  
"Sure, that sounds great. I'll come right now okay?"  
  
"Okay, see you in a bit then."  
  
"Alright, see ya."  
  
Tea hung up the phone and ran downstairs from her room. She grabbed her jacket and was about to head out the door when her dad came up. "Where are you off to? Forget something at the game shop?"  
  
Tea blinked for a second. 'I wonder what he'd think of this.' "No, I'm just going to go over to a friends house for dinner."  
  
With a shrug her father walked into the living room. "Just make sure you're back before nine."  
  
"Okay." She nodded and then ran out the door.  
  
******************  
  
Getting up from his desk Seto was walking to his room to get something when he heard a sound coming out of "Tea's" room. Opening the door he looked around and followed the high pitched beeping sound to the bed. Looking over the bed he didn't see it. Then kneeling down on the floor he looked under the bed and saw a green light. Reaching under he pulled out the pager and looked at it in his hand. It read the words: Yugi's House, on it. 'This must be Tea's. I'll give it to her when she gets here.'  
  
Shoving it into his pocket he went downstairs and waited until he heard the doorbell ring.  
  
*******************  
  
Tea walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter as he stared at her.  
  
"So what do you want to get? .Or would you rather go out somewhere?"  
  
She couldn't help smiling as she looked at his face. It was so obvious he really didn't want to go out. "Eating in s'fine."  
  
He sighed and leaned against the wall across from her as he slanted his head forward and looked at the floor. "So what do we want? I was thinking maybe Chinese.?"  
  
"That sounds fine."  
  
"Or would you rather something else?"  
  
"Chinese is fine."  
  
"We could get pizza if you'd like?"  
  
"The Chinese sounds good."  
  
"Or Mexican."  
  
"Chinese is really okay."  
  
"We could always just make something too."  
  
Crossing her arms she sighed. "It's fine Seto, Chinese is really great."  
  
"Or we could-"  
  
"Seto!"  
  
He snapped his head up and looked at her. "What?"  
  
She walked over to him and grabbed either side of his face. "Chinese. Is. Fine. Okay?"  
  
"Okay, so what Chinese exactly?"  
  
She dropped her hands and went back to lean on the counter. "Just some Lo Mein and dumplings is cool."  
  
He nodded and pulled out his cell phone. "That's fine with me."  
  
*****************  
  
After they had ordered the food Kaiba went to pick it up with Tea and then they came back to his mansion and ate it. After they were done they had talked until it was almost nine when Seto drove Tea home and walked her to the front door.  
  
*****************  
  
"We should do this again." He smirked.  
  
Smiling up at him she nodded. "That would be nice."  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow at school then?" His smirk grew to a smile.  
  
"Ya, I'll see you then." She gave him a peck on the cheek and opened the door and was about to go inside.  
  
"Oh Tea."  
  
She turned around. "Mm?"  
  
He reached into his pocket and put the beeper in her hand. "You forgot this in the guest room."  
  
"Oh thanks."  
  
Smiling he walked back to his car. "See ya."  
  
*****************  
  
Tea shut the door behind her and walked into the kitchen where her mom was at the sink washing dishes.  
  
Without looking at Tea she looked out the window. "He looks nice."  
  
Tea smiled. "He is."  
  
"What did he give you?" Her mom turned and was drying a dish in her hand.  
  
"Just my pager, I'd left it at his house."  
  
"When did you do that?" She placed the dish on the counter and grabbed another one to dry.  
  
"Probably last month, when I stayed there."  
  
"Oh really.?"  
  
"Ya, that was when-" Tea's eyes bugged out as she realized what she had said and looked at her mom who was staring back at her with an accusing look on her face. "Um. I mean-"  
  
"How long did you 'stay there'?"  
  
"Um. um. um. I didn't. I, uh, didn't say it right. I just, visited, I didn't stay there. Um, uh, oh, hehe." She giggled nervously under the hard glare of her mom. "I was just-"  
  
The continued hard glare.  
  
"He was hurt. I-"  
  
Stare. Stare.  
  
"It was just a month-"  
  
Raised eyebrows and an even harder stare. "A month?"  
  
"But, but, you see. He'd gotten in a crash and. He needed help. So I took care of him. There wasn't anything wrong with it."  
  
"Oh, sure, of course, I see. My daughter tells me that she was just sleeping at some guy's house that I have never met for a month, and while her parents weren't home to top it off!"  
  
"But Mom-"  
  
"Maybe we shouldn't have been so trusting in you. Leaving you alone in a house all by yourself for two months. What exactly were you thinking?"  
  
"I was just- It seemed right at the time."  
  
"Really? Hm. I guess I misjudged your judgement then."  
  
"Mom-"  
  
"You are grounded from this point forward young lady!"  
  
"But Mom-"  
  
"No! You were completely out of line! 'There wasn't anything wrong with it' my foot! Go up to your room!"  
  
"Mom."  
  
"Now!"  
  
"Erg! I was just taking care of him! Jeez!" Tea stomped upstairs and slammed the door to her room as she fell down onto her bed and glared at the ceiling. 'I was just taking care of him. There was nothing wrong with it. It's Seto. It was completely innocent. Why doesn't she believe me? I know it may be sort of a shock to find that out. but REALLY!'  
  
*******************  
  
Seto sat down next to Tea at lunch and noticed her glaring at the table. With a slight look of concern growing on his face he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Tea? Is something wrong?"  
  
"It's not fair."  
  
"What's not?"  
  
"My mom grounded me."  
  
"Oh. Why?"  
  
"Because of you."  
  
"Did I do something?"  
  
"No." She shook her head and continued staring at the table.  
  
"Then. Why?" He was completely lost. She was grounded because of him. but he hadn't done anything? That made a lot of sense, not really.  
  
"It's because of when I stayed at your house that month. She had a total fit. It's not like we DID anything."  
  
He blinked at her slightly. "Well." 'That would be a problem, wouldn't it. I never thought about that, but it would be normal for her parents to be worried. I hope this doesn't cause problems.'  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"We'll still be able to see each other at school. Like this. It's not the end of the world, I guess."  
  
Tea turned her head sideways and stared at him. "What do you know? You've never been grounded. I can't use the phone, I can't watch TV, I can't leave my room, and they're all mad at me."  
  
His expression sank a little at how she was reacting and he removed his hand from her shoulder. "That's not really my fault Tea."  
  
"Sure it isn't. Whatever." She glared at him and looked back at the table.  
  
"Tea-"  
  
"Just leave me alone."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Shut up Kaiba."  
  
His face sank and he looked at the floor and sighed. "Okay then. I'll talk to you later tonight then."  
  
"No, you won't."  
  
"Oh." Getting up slowly he walked over to his corner, which had remained unoccupied for the past two weeks and sat down. 'I hope this passes. I'll stop by her house tonight and try to make peace with her parents. Maybe that'll help.' 


	2. Bad News

Kaiba walked up to the front door of Tea's house later that night. With a knot starting to form in his stomach. 'Just explain it to them. I'm sure they'll understand, they're probably really understanding people.' He knocked on the door lightly and was faced with the face of Tea's father a few moments later.  
  
"Hello, may I help you?"  
  
"Are you Mr. Gardner?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I'm Seto Kaiba. I took your daughter out for dinner last night. I was wondering if I could talk with you and your wife to clear some things up."  
  
Her father slowly pulled the door fully open and let him in with a slightly suspicious glare on his face. So this was Seto. The one who was trying to seduce his daughter. Come over to try and 'clear things up'.  
  
*******************  
  
"-so you see, really there isn't any reason for you to be mad at her. It was completely innocent and she had her own room. I never would have forced her to stay, and as soon as I was better she left." He finished telling them about the accident and why Tea had come over, even though he had told them that it was his idea instead of hers in hopes to make them easier on her. He'd left out the details of him being slightly suicidal; he didn't think that would pass over quite to well.  
  
Her dad shook his head. "I see. How long do you say you have been seeing our daughter?" He still had a suspicious look on his face.  
  
Treading forward carefully Kaiba answered, "Approximately two months now."  
  
"And what have you been doing during the course of them?"  
  
Still watching his step he continued, "She's just been coming over and we sit and talk for a couple of hours. Then she goes home."  
  
"That's all?" More suspicious glares.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And she just goes home?"  
  
"Well if it gets too late she's welcome to stay, but that's normal."  
  
"Oh it is, is it?"  
  
Starting to get a little worried he glanced around. "I, think so."  
  
Her mother tapped her fingers in her lap. "So what did your parents think of this?"  
  
Seto stopped looking around and sat there with a worried look on his face as he replied, "They weren't there. They're dead."  
  
Her father's face tensed at this. "There was no supervision, and she was staying the night?"  
  
"Well, in a sense, yes." Kaiba knew this was bad. HE knew there hadn't been anything wrong with it, but with all circumstances it would be very easy for people to take it the wrong way.  
  
Tea's mother stood up with a sullen expression on her face. "I'm afraid we have nothing more to say to you, and if you wouldn't mind, we would like to ask you to leave."  
  
'Bad, not good, very bad, extremely bad.' He got up and nodded. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. I hope you won't be too harsh on Tea, she feels really bad." He gave an unhappy sigh as he walked out the door. 'I think I may have made it worse. Oh please don't be mad Tea. I hate it when you're upset.'  
  
******************  
  
Reaching home he fell down onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling until.  
  
Ringalingalingalingalingaling! Ringalingalinga-  
  
He pulled his cell phone out and pushed the button. "Hello?"  
  
A small whispered reply came from the other end. "Hey Seto. It's me."  
  
He sat up on his bed. "Tea? Oh, look, I'm sor-"  
  
"No, no, don't. I shouldn't have snapped at you earlier. I called to say that I'm sorry for doing that. It really wasn't your fault. I really should have thought about it at the time, and like you said. It's not the end of the world, right?" She continued whispering. "I really shouldn't be calling you. It's part of being grounded, but I just felt like I had to apologize."  
  
Exhaling a breath, Kaiba let a small smile creep onto his face. "Thank you, I'm really glad you did call." The smile then sank. "Now not to make things worse or anything. but I came and talked to your parents today. and I don't think it went that well. I thought you might want to know that. I think they've gotten the impression into their minds that we're a little too close, if you know what I mean."  
  
A little moan came from the other end. "I know. I just hope they don't do anything drastic." She then went silent for a couple of seconds. "I'll talk to you later Seto. I think they're coming up. See you tomorrow, bye." She hung up the phone.  
  
Flipping his phone shut he shoved it back in his pocket and fell back on his bed and shook his head. 'I hope everything turns out okay.'  
  
*****************  
  
He sat down at the table the next day at lunch, and it was obvious that everything wasn't.  
  
Yugi was sitting on the other side of Tea and patting her back as she was crying. "It'll be okay Tea. We'll still be able to talk. Maybe they weren't even serious. You never know. It'll all be fine, don't worry."  
  
Seto looked at the hunched form of Tea and then Yugi and asked with a feeling of foreboding taking him. "What's wrong?"  
  
Tea looked up from crying into her arms and took one look at Seto with her lip quivering before she burst into tears again and fell back. Yugi continued patting her back and he answered, "She's moving."  
  
"W-what?"  
  
Tea spoke from down on the table. "It's true. They told me last night. They said 'If you can't be responsible with your actions here then we'll have to take you someplace else.' A-and we're leaving next week, just like that. I don't even get to have a say. That's it, we're leaving."  
  
His face froze in horror. 'No, no, this isn't happening. She's not leaving. She's joking. No she's not you idiot. She IS leaving. This is your fault.'  
  
*******************  
  
His face was still frozen as he walked up into his room after work that day and fell onto his bed. 'Oh my god. She's leaving. She's really leaving, and I can't do a thing about it. Not one thing. She can't be leaving, she can't leave me all by myself. Why does this keep happening to me? Every time I get some happiness it has to be taken away from me.' Sitting up he walked downstairs into the kitchen and pulled out one of the knives.  
  
He held it above the inside joint of his elbow with his hand shaking. Then with a dejected sigh he placed both hands down on the counter and shook his head. 'I can't do it.' He held the knife back again and then fell to leaning on the counter once more. 'I just. can't.'  
  
Growling in frustration he whirled and slammed the knife into the wall. Falling down to the floor slowly he leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. 'Why does this keep happening? Why? Why?' He buried his head in his hands. 'Oh god, just please tell me why.'  
  
Standing up again he yanked the knife out and started jamming it into the plaster repeatedly in frustration. "Why?! Why?! Why?!"  
  
"Seto?"  
  
Kaiba turned around, with his hand still on the handle of the knife in the wall, at the curios expression of Mokuba. He then looked at the knife and yanked it out as he stared at the chipped plaster briefly and then started washing the knife in the sink and avoiding Mokuba's eyes contact. "What is it Mokuba?"  
  
"Is something wrong?"  
  
He finished washing off the plaster and shoved the knife back into the holder. "No."  
  
"Why were you stabbing the wall then?"  
  
Kaiba marched past Mokuba up to his room. "I wasn't."  
  
****************  
  
Seto spent most of the next day at school sulking, and afterwards he was going to go home and bury his frustration in work when an idea worked its way into his head. Instead of driving home he made his way to Tea's house and stopped down the street so that he could watch the moving truck but not really be noticed. He waited there until the other vehicle started moving and then he followed it to the house of destination. He made sure to stay out of sight so as not to be noticeable, and as he looked at the house a small smile spread on his face. So he couldn't walk to her house anymore. but he knew where it was. He wasn't finished just quite yet. And he still had a week with her at school before she left.  
  
*******************  
  
((Little comment for a sec. I know it doesn't really take a week to move and you just up and do it, but let's just say they're special and can ok?))  
  
Seto had spent all of that week continuing sulking, and the week after that, and even another one after that as he remained essentially silent at the lunch table at school and at home. He knew where Tea was. but it didn't seem really right to just go over there. It would probably cause problems anyway, with her parents that is. It was his fault they moved in the first place. He wouldn't want to make Tea move even further away which he was sure would be the next step if her parents found him snooping around the house.  
  
Later that night he was going to go home after being called into Kaiba Corps' headquarters and drown his frustrations in more works when he began thinking. 'Oh I just don't care anymore. I have to go see her. Even if I don't get to talk to her, I have to see her.' And with that he drove off in his car towards Tea's new house.  
  
He parked down the street a ways and got out as he walked down the road and stood in front of the new home. Walking around it and making sure to keep in the shadows he looked in all the downstairs windows to see if he could find Tea. He didn't see her and then started circling the house again looking in the upstairs windows.  
  
As he was wandering around the left side he noticed the back of a familiar brown head. 'Tea.' A small smile played on his lips and he started to climb the tree that was conveniently placed directly next to Tea's open window with only one or two feet between one of its sturdier branches and the sill.  
  
When he reached the one branch that stretched out he sat back in the foliage and stared at Tea who was working at her desk. His smile grew wider and he sighed. 'I missed her. I hope she's doing okay.' He continued staring inside until he saw her pull something that glinted out of her desk drawer. His eyes grew wide with horror but he kept staring until he clearly saw Tea turn away from her desk and walk to the other side of her room with a knife in hand.  
  
Scrambling to the end of the branched he crawled inside he window and swung his legs over her desk that was right next to it. He then ran over and grabbed the hand Tea had the knife in and placed a hand over her mouth from behind.  
  
She gave a muffled shriek and he pried the knife out of her hand and whispered to her soothingly. "Shhh Tea. It's me. It's just me. Calm down."  
  
He waited a few moments and felt her body relax before he removed his hand and let her go.  
  
She turned around and stared at him in disbelief. "Seto?"  
  
He shook his head and stared at the knife he was now holding and then back at her. "Tea, what do you think you're doing?"  
  
"How did you-When did you-How in the-"  
  
"You can't do that to yourself. You-" His eyes then rested on her arms that already had a series of scabbed slashes in them. "Oh Tea." He took a couple steps forward and hugged her as he rubbed her back with his free hand. "Tea, Tea, Tea. I'm so sorry."  
  
Tea's eyes began to water and she burrowed her face into his chest as tears started to flow. "I missed you so much."  
  
Slowly pulling her down to the floor so they were both kneeling while continuing to rub her back he placed the knife down on the rug and then wrapped both his hands around her and sighed as he pulled her in close and whispered, "I missed you too, I missed you too." 


	3. Reunited

Tea looked up at him with tears still streaming from her eyes. "How did you find me?"  
  
He smiled. "I followed the moving truck. It wasn't that hard. I had to know where you were to make sure you were alright."  
  
Tea started to smile but then broke into tears again and huddled against him.  
  
Seto gave her a tight squeeze. "It's okay my little princess. But tell me-" He held her away from him. "Why have you been doing that to yourself?" He looked at her arms and then into her watery eyes.  
  
"I was so alone. All of you guys were gone. I- I- I was just so alone." She fell back into his chest crying and he rubbed her back more.  
  
"Tea. You can't do that though. It's not healthy. Now I know what you're going through, but please promise me. You won't do it again?"  
  
She looked up at him with her red eyes, "B-but."  
  
"Please Tea?"  
  
She nodded and leaned on him again as her sobs began to lessen. "O-okay."  
  
He smiled and gave her another tight squeeze. "Thank you." He exhaled. "Don't worry, I won't leave you by yourself again. I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you." Seto sat there hugging Tea for quite some time until he felt her body go limp and he looked down at her sleeping form. He smirked and picked her up and placed her in her bed. Covering her with her sheets her kissed her forehead. "Sweet dreams Tea."  
  
***************  
  
He jumped down from the tree and looked back up at Tea's room as he gave a contented sigh. 'I'll see you again tomorrow Tea. Just hang in there for me.' He smiled and walked off to his car.  
  
***************  
  
Yugi spun his food around with his fork like he generally did when he was feeling down and then he spoke out to Joey. "Has she called you yet?"  
  
The blonde shook his head. "No Yug, haven't heard a thing."  
  
Tristan shrugged. "I haven't heard anything from her either."  
  
Yugi gave a depressed sigh and sank further down onto the table. "I hope she's doing alright."  
  
Kaiba at this point who had been sitting there silent staring off into space for quite some time now spoke plainly. "She's fine."  
  
The violet eyes popped up from staring at the food, to Kaiba. "What?"  
  
A contented sigh came from Seto and he continued staring off into space as a smile crept onto his face. "She's doing just fine."  
  
"Did she call you or something?"  
  
"I followed the moving truck, and I went for a visit."  
  
Yugi's expression was confused, "But what did her parents have to say about this?"  
  
There was a slight pause, ". They don't know."  
  
Joey raised and eyebrow, "So you're telling us that you went to see Tea without her parent's finding out?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Oh, you're asking for it Kaiba."  
  
"How so?"  
  
The blonde shrugged, "Jus' think about it. Her folks Obviously don't really like ya, and now you're sneaking around their back to see their daughter After they've moved to get away from that. It's not a very bright idea."  
  
This caused Seto to chuckle.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
The CEO shook his head and smirked. "It's quite humorous actually. You see last night I went to her new house to see how she was doing; in fact I was watching her through her window when- Guess what I saw? A knife. Kind of ironic if you think about it."  
  
Yugi's expression grew concerned. "That's not a good thing Kaiba."  
  
"Of course I know that. Don't you think I of all people would?"  
  
Tristan held his hands up. "Then.?"  
  
"Don't worry about it. I had a little talk with her. She's fine." He smirked again and continued staring off into space as the three other pairs of eyes at the table continued staring at him.  
  
"And we're just supposed to forget about it now?"  
  
"Yeah, quite being so mysterious Kaiba."  
  
"Can't you tell us what was wrong?" Yugi's was the last voice in this as he gazed over at Kaiba with a worried face.  
  
Seto shook his head and got up. "Don't worry about her. I've got it under control." And he walked back inside.  
  
Joey then stared over at Yugi and Tristan. "So what do we do?"  
  
Tristan glanced sideways at where Kaiba had just left. "Leave it I guess."  
  
"Leave it? We're just going to leave it?"  
  
Yugi shrugged. "What else can we do Joey? There's no other way we can contact her, we don't know where she lives, her phone number, anything."  
  
"Kaiba knows."  
  
Yugi shook his head. "I'd seriously doubt he's going to tell us Joey."  
  
Joey finally fell forward on the table in defeat. "Fine. I guess we really can't do anything then."  
  
*********************  
  
Kaiba parked down the street once again and traveled down the road and up into the tree next to Tea's window. He leaned back on the trunk as one of his legs hung off the branch and he stared in the window at Tea sitting at her desk. 'She really is beautiful.' He saw her take something out of her desk and then she walked out of his view. His face became slightly concerned as he sat there until he saw her come back and put whatever it was back in the drawer and then go back to writing.  
  
Crawling forward on the branch he approached outside her window and tapped lightly on the glass. Her head swung up and she looked out the window and jumped a little when she saw him. Then leaning forward she turned the lock and lifted the window up.  
  
Seto climbed over the desk and smiled at her. "Hey again."  
  
Tea smiled back and swiveled her chair to face him. "Hey."  
  
He looked down at her arms and his eyes fell onto a brighter shade of red. With the smile dropping from his face he stared at her in disappointment. "Tea, you promised."  
  
She looked away from him at the floor. "I-I know."  
  
With a sigh he pulled out her desk drawer and saw the knife. He reached in and grabbed it out and then held it up in front of Tea. "This isn't good for you. You can't do this to yourself Tea. You just can't." 'Oh god why is this happening to me.' "I won't let you do this. Why are you doing it?"  
  
She got up and went to sit on her bed as she continued staring at the floor. "I don't know Seto. I don't know."  
  
He put the knife down on the desk and walked over and sat down next to Tea. "It'll all get better soon. You just have to hang in there." He put his arm around her shoulder and rested his head on hers. "Just hang in there. You'll get through this."  
  
"But, my parents. They're so mad at me."  
  
He gave a tiny little smile and sighed. "Don't worry about them. They're just parents. It's their job to be overprotective. They'll get over it."  
  
A small tear made its way down Tea's cheek. "But they don't like you. They really don't like you."  
  
Lifting her chin with his finger he looked into her eyes. "Does it look like that's stopping me?" He gave her a light kiss and then rested his forehead against hers with a smile. "I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay? I promise."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"It's ok. I just don't want you getting hurt, that's all."  
  
She looked down at the ground again. "I wanna go home, I don't like it here. I don't have any friends here. It's just so different."  
  
Seto nodded. "You know the other guys are really worried about you?"  
  
"They are?"  
  
"Yeah, they miss you too." He looked up at the door and then through the window outside. "I have to go now Tea. I'll be back tomorrow. Now don't do anything more. It'll all get better, just you wait." He gave her one last hug and a kiss. "Don't worry little princess. I'll protect you." And with that he grabbed the knife off the desk and crawled out the window and down the trunk of the tree.  
  
Tea stared out the window after him and sighed. 'Bye Seto.'  
  
((That's the end of chapter 3. It's a little shorter than normal. but ok. I couldn't help it. That was just the perfect place to end it ^_^ . Now I write more. Keep reviewing!)) 


	4. Fatal Error

Tea walked home from school that day all by herself. It was so lonely here. No Yugi, no Joey, no Tristan, and no Seto. He was the only one that she had even talked to though. She didn't know why she hadn't called the other guys yet. Maybe she figured that they'd want to come visit and that would remind her of being home. Seeing Seto made her think of home, she missed it, she wanted to go back. She wanted to hang out in the game shop and just hang out, or go to the movies and throw popcorn bits at each other. She wanted to sit at home on her bed and talk to Seto for a few hours before she went to sleep. But she wanted to be on HER bed, in HER room, and instead she was on the same bed in some other room that just didn't fit. Her parents shouldn't have made her move, she was lonely. It was painful to be all by herself.  
  
She wasn't sure why she had started cutting her arms. She knew it was kind of difficult to hide it from her parents, but she managed. The worst part was that Seto found out. She hadn't wanted anybody to know. It was supposed to be her secret of what she was doing. And then he had to go and find out and be all worried. He didn't need to be worried. It wasn't like she was going to REALLY hurt herself. It was just a few cuts. What was wrong with that? He'd done it before. HE of all people shouldn't be the one telling her to stop. 'But he was so concerned. No, no, he doesn't have a right to tell me whether to stop or not. It's my choice not his, mine.'  
  
****************  
  
Kaiba stepped out of his car for the third night in a row. 'She said she'd stop. It should be fine, just fine.' A nervous smile appeared on his face. He trusted Tea, but he wasn't sure whether she would actually stop. He knew that it was hard to just stop. He'd done it that way, and several times he'd wanted to hurt himself, but every time he got close the picture of his slit wrist gushing forth blood would enter his mind and he'd shiver. That had freaked him out. It was mostly the reason why he had stopped, because he just plain couldn't do it anymore.  
  
He climbed up the tree and crawled forward on the branch and through Tea's window, which she had left open. Looking around the room he noticed her sitting on her bed, with the knife, cutting into the back of her arm.  
  
Closing his eyes he took a deep breath. 'Oh my god Tea.' "What are you doing?"  
  
Her head snapped up and she stared at him in surprise. "Oh! Seto!" She looked at the knife in her hand and then shoved it under her pillow. "What are you doing here?"  
  
He shook his head. "I already saw it Tea."  
  
"Saw what?"  
  
He opened his eyes and sent a hard glare at her. "I saw the knife. We already talked about this Tea, it's not healthy, stop it."  
  
She folded her arms. "You can't tell me what to do."  
  
Seto slowly walked over to the bed and picked the knife from under the pillow. Looking at it he placed his thumb lightly on the sharp part of the blade. "You're right. I can't." His icy blue orbs cast themselves down at her harshly.  
  
"Why are you looking at me like that?"  
  
He continued staring at her. "No reason. You're absolutely right, I can't tell you what to do. It's not my decision. It's yours."  
  
"Um. yeah." She slowly backed away on her bed until she was in the corner against the wall.  
  
"I shouldn't be trying to stop you. You know what you're doing." His voice was a flat menacing tone as he pushed his thumb harder against the blade causing blood to come out.  
  
"S-Seto?" She pulled her arms over her chest and curled up into a ball as she glanced worriedly over at him.  
  
A sly grin appeared on his face as his eyes continued eating away at Tea. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine." He sat down on the end of the bed and kept his eyes locked on Tea.  
  
She tried to shrink smaller as her voice did as well. "Wh-what are you going to do?"  
  
He continued sliding his bleeding thumb along the blade and staring at Tea as he slowly inched closer to her on the bed until he was a few inches away from her. "You like cutting yourself do you?"  
  
Tea sat there shaking as she continued trying to shrink smaller.  
  
With a sudden motion Seto yanked Tea down from the wall and shoved the knife up against her throat as he hung his face a millimeter away from hers. "Do you?" His eyes narrowed and became even harder as he hissed at her and kept the blade pressured against her skin as he held her down.  
  
She made little whimpering noises and tried to squirm but he kept her pinned down firmly.  
  
He applied a slight amount of more pressure to the blade. "Well... Do you?"  
  
All Tea could manage to do was sit there and whimper as she lay there helpless with the burning eyes of Seto digging into her as she captured the little air that was being allowed through her throat under the pressure.  
  
He glared at her for a while longer and then, just as suddenly as he had pinned her, he got up and walked over to the other side of the room as he flicked the blade closed and shoved it into his pocket.  
  
Tea sat up on the bed slowly and stared over at Seto as she curled up in a ball again and started shaking. "S-S-Set-t-t-o?"  
  
Turning he walked back over and sat down next to her on the bed. She backed up against the wall again and started to hyperventilate slightly.  
  
Looking at her he sighed and then stared at the floor and shook his head. "Tea. You don't understand. It doesn't just hurt you when you cut yourself. It hurts me too. I don't want to see you causing yourself pain. I can't stand to see you in pain. It hurts so much, it just hurts so much." He let his head fall into his hands. "I know you don't have to listen to me, but please, please just stop doing this to yourself. I can't stand to see you like this. Please, oh please. Just stop hurting yourself." He lifted his head and gazed over at her. "Please Tea. I'm begging you."  
  
Tea stayed curled up in her ball as she stared over at him still in shock. 'H-he, he just. He just pinned me to the bed with a knife to my throat. And now he's begging me? He could've killed me. And now he's begging me?'  
  
Seto shook his head and scooted over to hug Tea, but as he felt his arms wrap around her she cringed. "Tea, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I didn't mean to-" He froze and a picture of Gozaburo slamming him against the wall flashed into his mind. 'Oh my god. I've turned into him.' Quickly dropping his arms from around Tea he stood. "I-I'm sorry. I don't know why I. I never would've hurt you." He walked over to the window and climbed out as he muttered. "I'm so sorry."  
  
****************  
  
He got out of his car and walked up to his room as he fell down onto his bed and stared at the floor, eyes hollowed out. 'Please don't tell me I've turned into him. I can't have possibly gone down that road.' His mind flashed so he was over Tea. 'Oh my god. I had a knife at her throat. I have turned into him. I can't believe I did that, to TEA. She must think I'm some kind of psychopath. I can't believe I scared her like that. She'll never forgive me. I don't see how she could. I had a knife at her throat!' He shook his head as the scene kept flashing into his mind over and over again.  
  
Groaning he threw himself at his pillow. "What have I done? What have I Done? What have I done to her? This is all my fault. She never would have gotten so upset in the first place if she had just never stayed over here. I knew I should have died in that car crash. I knew it. I just knew it." He then sat up and got up and walked downstairs into the kitchen where he grabbed one of the knives and then ran back upstairs.  
  
He shut the door behind him and fell to his knees as he stared at the knife in his hand and had pictures of Tea's frightened face flash into his mind. "Make them stop, oh god please, just make them stop. I don't want to see them anymore. Just make them stop." He put the knife against his own throat and then fell back against the door with the blade still there. "Please, make them stop."  
  
His arm started shaking as the picture of his wrist entered his thoughts and then he dropped his hand down to his side. "I. Just. Can't." A combination picture flashed in his mind of Tea and his wrist. "Awe shit." He stood up and looked at the knife still in his hand. Then the pictures hit his brain again. "You stupid wrist." He whirled and slammed the knife into the wall. "You stupid damn wrist! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!" He kept jamming the blade into the wall and then pulled it out and made a clean slash down his left arm.  
  
Falling to the floor again he looked at his arm and then at the knife that now had his own blood on it. 'Not again. I can't do this again. I have to help Tea, I can't be doing this to myself.' Her face once again slammed into his brain and he cringed. 'No, I can't do that to her. I won't let myself do that to her. I have to PROTECT her. I have to. I can't sit here and let her hurt herself. I just can't. I love her.' He clenched his teeth together as tears squeezed themselves out of his eyes. 'I can't do this to her. I can't, I can't, I can't. I have to stop her. I have to. I don't know how. but I just have to.'  
  
Getting up from the ground he walked over to his bed and fell down on it instead as the image of him attacking Tea kept playing through his mind over and over again, until he finally drifted into a troubled slumber.  
  
*********************  
  
He was pinning Tea down with the knife at her throat again. "Well. Do you?" He said. He watched her whimpering and then when he would have gotten off, instead he pushed his arm down further and yanked it sideways across her throat.  
  
Seto watched himself get up off the bed as the blood board out of Tea's neck and onto the bed as she gasped. His dream self stood there with a smile on his face as he watched her body go limp. Then he laughed and jammed the knife into her forehead as her eyes stared lifelessly at nothing. With another smile on his face he yanked the knife out of her skull. Licking the blood off the blade he raised it above his head and shoved it into her stomach. He twisted its handle as the blood began to seep through Tea's shirt and laughed again as he yanked it out once more. Licking the blade once more he shoved it into his pocket with a grin on his face as he back up and looked at the still form of Tea slowly sliding off of her bed with her eyes clouded over and the blood dripping down her forehead and neck and seeping through her clothes.  
  
**********************  
  
"No! Tea! No!!!" He jerked up in his bed with cold sweat running down his face. Panting heavily he pulled the sheets off him and got up. Walking out onto the balcony he stared down at the water below and sighed. 'Like that'll do any good.' Walking back inside he went over to his desk and lifted the knife from earlier off it. Staring at it for a while he sighed. 'Now I can't even fix my problems. I have to sit and let them all happen while I can't do anything about it.' His dream came back into his mind and he shivered. 'No. no. I could never do that to her.' He left his room and walked downstairs into the kitchen with the fact ringing in the back of his head that. he could.  
  
*********************  
  
He was sitting at the lunch table the next day with his head in his hands and a worm eating away inside him. He could. That was his problem. He wanted to believe that he would never be able to actually kill someone, but he would. He'd threatened to do that Gozaburo, and he was completely ready to. but Gozaburo had died before he carried out that plan. 'No. Not to Tea. I couldn't do that to Tea.' His dream entered his mind for the millionth time that day. 'But I saw it. She was dead, and I was. ENJOYING it. I tasted the blood. I was smiling. But. No. I could never actually do that.' He knew he was lying to himself, and it burned in his chest.  
  
"Hey Kaiba, you okay dude?" Joey looked in between Seto's arms at his face. "Hello?" He waved his hands in front of Seto's eyes. "Anybody home?"  
  
"She's dead." Seto continued staring at the table with hollow eyes.  
  
Yugi stopped eating and gazed over at Kaiba. "Who?"  
  
"I killed her."  
  
Tristan looked up from his food as well. "Killed who?"  
  
"How could I do that.?"  
  
"Who?" Joey glanced at Kaiba's face and listened to him mutter quietly.  
  
"Tea."  
  
"What?!" Joey grabbed Seto's shirtfront and yanked him. "What did you do?"  
  
Seto's eyes came back into reality and he shook his head. "Wh-What?"  
  
Joey shook him. "What did you do you asshole?!"  
  
Kaiba glared at Joey and pushed his hands off him. "I didn't do anything!"  
  
Joey clenched his fists and glared at him. "Don't tell me you didn't do anything. You just said you killed Tea."  
  
Seto's eyes spread with horror and he shook his head as the pictures filter through his mind again. "I didn't. I didn't. You here me? I'd never do that to Tea! Stop making me see it! Stop it!" He grabbed at the back of his head with his hands. "Stop making me see it! I didn't do it! Make it stop! Just make it stop!"  
  
Everyone's mouth hung open as they stared at Seto falling apart.  
  
"Make them stop! I don't want to see it! I don't want to see it anymore!" He started shaking. "Make them go away!"  
  
Joey put his hand over Kaiba's mouth. "Come on man, shut up. People are going to think you've lost it."  
  
Seto yanked Joey's hand away and glared at him. "I didn't kill her. I'd never kill Tea! So stop making me see it!" He fell back onto the table and started to cry. "Oh please just stop it. Stop it. I don't want to see it anymore!"  
  
Joey stared over at Yugi and Tristan. "What is he talking about?"  
  
Yugi's face expressed deep concern. "I don't know. I think he's having a mental break down or something."  
  
Tristan shook his head. "Well YEAH."  
  
"I'm not, having a breakdown. I just want to stop seeing it." He sobbed. "I just don't want to see this anymore."  
  
Joey half grinned nervously. "Shouldn't we do something?"  
  
Yugi nodded. "Let's take him home. Tristan," He turned to look at him. "You tell the teacher we'll be back as soon as we get him there."  
  
Tristan nodded as he got out of his seat and headed back to the classroom.  
  
"Joey?"  
  
"What ya want Yug?"  
  
"Just help me."  
  
"No problem." The blonde gave a thumbs up and then whacked Kaiba on the back. "Come on buddy, it's time to take ya home."  
  
Seto shook his head. "I'm not going. I don't need to."  
  
Joey rolled his eyes and grabbed Kaiba's arm and tried to pull him up. "Yeah ya do. Dun worry, we'll getcha there safe and sound."  
  
He was met with a sideways glare. "I'm. Not. Going."  
  
"Yes ya are." Joey managed to pulled Kaiba up out of his seat and then looked over to Yugi who grabbed Kaiba's right arm as they both led him out of the cafeteria.  
  
*********************  
  
After they had gotten him out of the cafeteria he had gone willingly to the car and inside of his mansion. When they got inside he went and sat down on the couch in the living room.  
  
Yugi sat in the chair next to it and looked at Seto staring at the floor. "What were you talking about back there?"  
  
Kaiba's body started shaking and he gazed over at Yugi. "I didn't do it. I didn't kill her. She's not dead. She's NOT! So stop making me see it!" He fell over on the couch and curled up as Yugi continued staring at him. "Just STOP IT alright?! I didn't do it! Make them stop! Just make them stop!" He clutched at his head and images of Tea flew through his head. Pictures of her from his dream, pictures with her head laying on the floor next to her, pictures with her hanging from the ceiling, pictures of her shot to death, pictures of her stabbed through, all with him standing there, looking at her, smiling. "JUST STOP IT!!!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Joey was completely mystified.  
  
"I didn't do it!"  
  
Yugi was really worried. He didn't know what to do. There was Kaiba, someone he'd known for quite some time, even if they didn't really become friends till recently. but still, he never lost it. Not like this. Not to the point where he just kept shouting the same thing over and over again. He knew it had to do with Tea, that's where the whole thing started of course.  
  
"Call her."  
  
Joey looked away from Kaiba over at Yugi. "What?"  
  
"We should call Tea."  
  
"But Yug, we don't know her number."  
  
Getting a little frustrated Yugi ran over to the phone hanging on the wall and picked it up. "We'll just call the operator." He pushed the button and listened. "Hello? I'd like to make a collect call. Is there a John and Catherine Gardner in the area? . There is? . Could you please call them, it's from Yugi Motou."  
  
"One moment please ma'am."  
  
"No, I'm not-" The operator disconnected and the phone started ringing.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Is Tea there please?"  
  
"One second." Muffled yelling in the background. "Tea! Phone for you!"  
  
"Got it Mom! . Hello?"  
  
"Hey Tea."  
  
"Y-Yugi?"  
  
"Um. Yeah. I have to ask you a question. We're having issues here." He glanced nervously as he watched Joey trying to calm down Kaiba who just kept shouting that he didn't do it and he wanted it to stop. "What happened?"  
  
"When?"  
  
"Well. I'm assuming last night. Did Kaiba come see you?" He heard a gasp come from her before she answered.  
  
"Y-yes. h-he did."  
  
"Tea? Is something wrong?"  
  
"Wh-what do you want Yugi?"  
  
His violet eyes darted around nervously. "Well, Kaiba's been sort of having a nervous breakdown. He keeps shouting that he didn't kill you, and like, that he wants it to stop. Any idea why?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Did something happen between you two?"  
  
The answer this time was quite and shaky. "H-he attacked me."  
  
Yugi's eyes went wide. "What?"  
  
"He attacked me."  
  
"Oh my god."  
  
Joey looked over at him. "Hey, what is it Yug?"  
  
Yugi turned and looked at Joey for a second and then talked back into the phone. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Y-yes."  
  
"Okay, that's good. I'm going to call back again later."  
  
"S-sure Yugi, later."  
  
"Bye." Yugi clicked the phone off and then turned to stare wide-eyed at Kaiba. "I can't believe it."  
  
"So. What is it?"  
  
Yugi shook his head. He wasn't exactly sure if he should tell Joey or not. It was true that he and Kaiba had made a sort of peace treaty, but he wasn't sure how long that would last.  
  
"Yug, hello? Are you gonna tell me what it is?" Joey waited impatiently.  
  
"H-he. h-he." Yugi held up his hand and pointed.  
  
"Yes, he. he what?"  
  
"He attacked her."  
  
"What?!" Joey whirled on Kaiba and grabbed his neck. "You did what?!"  
  
Seto grabbed Joey's arms and managed to pull them away so that he wasn't strangled. "I didn't! I didn't do it!"  
  
"Sure you didn't you mother f-" He tried harder to grab for Kaiba's neck.  
  
"I didn't do it!" The roulette of pictures circled his mind again and he cringed and clutched at his head. "Oh god, please make them stop."  
  
With Kaiba now grabbing at his head, Joey had a free opportunity to wrap his hands around his neck and start strangling him. "What did you to her?!"  
  
Yugi grabbed the back of Joey's shirt and tried pulling away. "Stop it Joey! You're going to hurt him!"  
  
"That's what I'm aiming for!"  
  
With a sudden burst Seto kicked out his legs into Joey's stomach and knocked him to the ground. He then jumped on top of him and start beating his face. "I told you I didn't do it!"  
  
Again, all of a sudden, Seto stopped and stood up, expression hollow as he stared off into space.  
  
Joey sat up and rubbed at his jaw as he looked at Seto standing there. "Are you off your rocker?"  
  
"Dead."  
  
Joey stood up and glared at him. "What do you mean 'dead'?!"  
  
"You, dead. I killed you too."  
  
Yugi walked up and stood in front of him. "Kaiba? Are you okay?"  
  
He shook his head as he continued staring with his hollow expression. "No, you too, all dead. I killed you all. Tea, Joey, Tristan, Mokuba, Gozaburo, Mom, Dad. all of you. gone. I killed you."  
  
Joey backed away. "Yug, this is getting' really creepy."  
  
"I shot you, in the head, blood everywhere. You fell down, I tried to find the bullet, couldn't. It was too deep. Gave up and sawed your head off, no sense in wasting a good bullet. I just need some tools and I can get in there."  
  
"Y-Yug?"  
  
Yugi held up his finger. "Just wait a second Joey."  
  
Seto continued flatly, "You, I stabbed. You weren't looking, who would know? Right in the back, you screamed, I laughed. I lick the blade. Blood tastes good, Tea's did too. I wonder what mine tastes like?"  
  
Joey continued backing away. "Yug, come on, stop him."  
  
"I already did it once, why not again? That would get the most blood, and then I'd be free. Yes, that's it, bleed my little wrist, you've opened up before, now come greet the sun." Lifting his hand he gave it a few licks and then put it back down without moving his eyes. "Not bad, tastes good, all blood tastes good, and now I'll be free. Everyone will be with me too, Tea, Yugi, everyone. I won't be alone anymore, I won't be alone, and now I can protect you all, keep you safe. All I have to do is put you in a box. Yes, a nice little box, one for each of you, and one for myself. We'll all be safe in those, nobody can hurt us in boxes, yeeeesss, boxes."  
  
Yugi watched Kaiba's eyes roll back inside his head as he closed them and sighed.  
  
"Boxes are our friends." He smiled and giggled a little. "I used to have a box. It was my fort. Mom would make me a sandwich and I'd eat it under there. I was safe there, no one could get me. I never had a box here. The other kids had boxes. They'd make forts with them. I used to watch them. Through my window. Yes through my window. I'd stare at them and the sky. Of course I killed them all. They have to be safe as well. Only in death are we safe. in our boxes. Mom and Dad left in boxes. They were going home, people said. I knew they weren't going home. They'd died. I'd killed them. Of course I'd killed them. It was my fault they were dead, because I had killed them. Tea likes my parents. They are so very nice. They came out of their boxes to meet her. I was glad."  
  
Joey's face distorted itself in anxiety. "Yug, come on, wake him up already."  
  
Yugi shook his head. "No, Joey. Just wait."  
  
"Of course we're all dead now. I killed them all, and myself. Only in death are we safe. Yes, that's why I jumped off my balcony. Tea thought I was crazy. She was the crazy one. She should've jumped with me. Then I wouldn't have had to kill her. But now she's safe. We're all safe. I killed us all. Yeeessss, now it's all better. We're all safe now. I killed us. We're safe in death. Only in death are we safe." As he said this last thing he started to waver and the finally, he collapsed onto the ground.  
  
((Okay. So that ended up being a little long. And strange I might add. . Sorry about that! I'll try and make it better soon. Anyways, now I'm gonna go type more to this lovely fic. Laterz!)) 


	5. Helping

Joey walked back over and looked down at Kaiba on the floor. "Why didn't you wake him up?"  
  
"I thought it might be better if we let him talk." Yugi shook his head and crouched down to feel Kaiba's pulse. "He's fine. Come on, help me a sec." He lifted Seto's feet and looked over at Joey who then lifted up the other half. They placed him on the couch and then Yugi kneeled down next to him again. "I hope everything is okay. They both seem pretty shaken up about it."  
  
"You don't think he was serious do you?"  
  
Yugi turned and looked at him. "About what?"  
  
With a nervous laugh the blonde wrung his hands. "About him killing everybody?"  
  
"Oh." He looked back at Kaiba. "I hope not Joey. I sure hope not."  
  
*****************  
  
Tristan was walking towards the game shop after school shaking his head. 'Sure they'll come back right after they take him home. They'll just come back tomorrow, that's all. Does that matter?' He smirked and rolled his eyes. 'I bet they've been hanging out at the shop all afternoon and just didn't feel like going back.'  
  
He walked in the door and the bell ringed as he opened it. Looking around him he shouted, "Yugi? Joey? Anybody here?!"  
  
A few moments later Yugi's Grandpa came out of the back. "Hello Tristan, they aren't here. Yugi called and told me they were still at Kaiba's."  
  
"Oh, thanks." With a smirk he waved and left the shop, making his way for Kaiba's. 'So they're still there? I guess something must have happened.'  
  
****************  
  
It didn't take him that long to get there, and when he did, he walked in the door and looked around for his friends. "Hello?! Anybody home?!" He went into the kitchen. "Is anyone here?!"  
  
"Hey Tristan." Mokuba looked over at him from where he was sitting at the table with concern all over his face. "Is Yugi back yet?"  
  
Tristan shrugged and pulled up a chair next to him. "Beats me. I just got here. What's with the long face?"  
  
Mokuba sighed and looked at the floor. "I'm worried about Seto. Joey's up in his room with him right now, and Yugi told me not to go in there before he left. He went to Tea's. Said something about finding out what happened."  
  
"Well, it couldn't have been that bad." He put on a smile. "Come on, cheer up. You're brother'll be just fine. How 'bout this. Let's play some cards? That'll take your mind off of things." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a deck. "Here we go. So what do you wanna play?"  
  
"I don't care." The younger Kaiba shook his head and stared at the floor with a sigh.  
  
"Let's play go fish. Here." He shuffled the cards and dealt them out. "I'll go first. Okay. Do you have any threes?"  
  
With another heavy sigh Mokuba picked up his cards and stared at them. "Go fi-"  
  
"NO!"  
  
Both Tristan and Mokuba's eyes snapped up as they looked over at the stairs and saw Kaiba running down them with a knife in hand and Joey chasing after him.  
  
"Kaiba! Come back here!"  
  
"No! You can't stop me!" He ran out the door with the blonde trailing close behind him.  
  
"You aren't getting away that easy!"  
  
"Um." Tristan looked back at the cards in his hand and drew one. "Your turn."  
  
*****************  
  
Seto ran out of the house and out next to it into the trees. He darted through them as branches scratches against his face. He could hear Joey behind him, running after him, trying to catch him, trying to stop him. But he didn't want to be stopped, he wanted to do it, just one clean slice and then he wouldn't have to see it anymore. There would be no more pictures of the dead following in his mind. All he had to do was get one clean slice. One slice, ignore the pictures for a few brief moments and then they would be gone. He'd seen himself dead, he'd seen Tea, he'd seen Yugi, Joey. everyone. He'd killed them all, and he was smiling. Through it all he was smiling. How could he do that? How? He didn't want to see it anymore. He just wanted it all to stop. He wanted to stop seeing the mangled forms that were haunting his thoughts.  
  
"Gotcha!" Joey leaped forward and managed to grabbed Seto's feet, bringing him to the ground.  
  
Kaiba kicked at him. Tried to make him let go. He just needed a few seconds. Then he would be able to stop the pictures. Stop the images. Stop them once and for all.  
  
"Let go of me!"  
  
Joey gritted his teeth and continued to hang on. "I'm not letting you!"  
  
Seto's eyes hardened and he kicked out at Joey. hard, which gave him a brief moment in which he yanked out his feet and then jumped on top of Joey and held the knife to his neck. "You. Don't. Get. It. You idiotic buffoon. I don't want to see it anymore. I want it to stop. Do you want me to suffer? Is that your purpose? To cause me pain?!" He pushed the blade against Joey's neck causing a slight amount of blood to begin dripping out. "Is that what you want?!" A brief moment passed and Kaiba's pupils shrank and he sat up looking at the knife in his hands. "I'm doing it again." He let the knife roll off his fingers onto the grass and then he backed away from Joey. "No, no, no. I can't be doing it. Not again. Tea!" He clutched at his skull and started shaking. "No! I won't! Stop it! Stop making me see this!"  
  
Kaiba's brain transformed the world around him into a shape of red. He looked down at his hands, they were dripping, dripping blood down onto the stained grass underneath him. Seto glanced around him at all the dead bodies. There they all were. Tea. Yugi. Tristan. Joey. Mokuba. He'd killed Mokuba. Dead. They were all dead. "No. No. NO!"  
  
Kaiba screamed and fell down onto the grass. "Stop it! STOP IT! Why do I have to keep seeing this?! Stop showing me!" He sobbed into the grass as he shook. "They're dead. All dead, and I killed them. I left myself all alone. Alone to deal with everything. And now Mokuba. I killed Mokuba." Tears dripped down his face. "I'm so sorry Mokuba. I didn't mean to turn out like him. I never meant to put you through the pain that I went through." Gripping his hands together he gritted his teeth. "I never wanted to. I hate him. I hate him! BURN IN HELL YOU BASTARD!!!" Kaiba grabbed the knife off the ground again and started ramming it into the ground. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!" An image of Gozaburo flitted through his mind and appeared before him. He had a smug grin on his face as he looked down at Kaiba on the ground.  
  
"Still haven't learned. Have you kid?"  
  
Seto stood up and glared fire at him. "May you rot in hell."  
  
"A little hostile aren't we?" He began pacing circles around Seto with his hands behind his back and a stern glare locked onto him.  
  
The young executive clenched his fist and his shoulders went rigid as the gaze started to chill his spine. "You lying, filthy, bastard."  
  
A swift slap met with Kaiba's cheek. "Do not speak ill of your elders!"  
  
Seto continued standing there with body tense, as his cheek grew red. "Die."  
  
Another slap connected with his other cheek. "I told you to listen!"  
  
"No." He glared defiantly at Gozaburo until the former owner of the Kaiba Corporation swung his fist into Seto's stomach. Falling to the ground he grunted in pain and curled up. "No."  
  
Gozaburo shook his head and landed a hard kick to Seto's side. "Foolish boy. You never did know when it was time to shut up, did you?"  
  
Seto's body began to shake as tears slowly began to squeeze out of his eyes in pain. "I'm s-sorry, s-sir."  
  
"Sorry is for fools!"  
  
"I-I didn't m-mean t-to."  
  
"You ungrateful little swine! I should never have taken you under my tutelage. You ignore it and then blame me for giving you the power you now have. Ha! You're just a lost little child wandering around in a grown up world." He landed another kick to Seto's side. "Get up you unworthy rat!"  
  
Seto remained curled up in a ball sobbing.  
  
"I said GET UP!"  
  
Shaking miserably he stood and stared at the floor. "I-I-I never meant t-to be ungrateful sir."  
  
Gozaburo took his fist and slammed it into the side of Seto's head. "You pathetic brat!"  
  
Seto's world spun as he clutched at his head and finally collapsed onto the floor.  
  
*****************  
  
Joey watched Kaiba zone out into his old world and then fall to the ground. Cautiously walking up to the fallen form he held a hand to his own neck and then took the knife out of Seto's hand.  
  
"Sheez Kaiba. What's up with you man?" Grabbing the fallen executive and swinging him over his back Joey headed back towards the mansion.  
  
******************  
  
"Got any kings?"  
  
"Go fish. Got any fours?"  
  
"Go fish. Got any- Seto?" Mokuba looked up and saw Joey lugging his older brother in and dump him down on the couch. He rushed over with his face full of concern. He then looked up at Joey. "What's wrong with him?"  
  
The blonde shrugged as he caught his breath. "No idea. He zoned out and then just sort of collapsed." His eyes settled on Tristan. "When did you get here?"  
  
Tristan looked down at Kaiba. "Oh a bit ago. What was Kaiba trying to do?"  
  
Joey briefly glanced at Mokuba who was still looking over his brother and then at Tristan. With his finger he made a motion of slicing his throat.  
  
Tristan's eyes spread wide. "You're kidding, right?"  
  
"No dude."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Joey shrugged. "Dunno exactly. Something about." His eyes wandered to Mokuba again. "Um. stuff." He rubbed at his neck a little where the cut was gave a half smirk. "We gotta wait till Yugi gets back before we can really find out."  
  
Tristan's brown eyes found the slight hint of red on Joey's throat and he cocked his eyebrow. Joey just batted his arm at him and kneeled down next to Mokuba. "We'll have to wait until Yug gets back before we can really do anything."  
  
********************  
  
Tea was curled up on her bed shaking her head as Yugi sat on the end of it and stared at her.  
  
"So what happened?"  
  
She shook her head. "It's okay Yugi, you don't have to get involved. I'm just fine, he didn't hurt me."  
  
He nodded and then shook his head. "That's good Tea. But I really do need to know what happened. I have to find out what's making Kaiba act so crazy."  
  
Tea buried her face in her knees. "It doesn't matter."  
  
Yugi sighed and shook his head again. "Please Tea? You need to tell me."  
  
"He just. He held a knife at my throat, okay?"  
  
"Do you have any idea why.?"  
  
"No."  
  
Yugi's eyes scanned Tea and he could tell she was lying. "What is it?"  
  
"Well. well."  
  
"Did it have to do with you cutting?"  
  
She looked at him and blinked a couple of times. "How did you know about that?"  
  
"He told us at lunch."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Did he say anything?" Yugi was trying to find some way to get what info he needed out of Tea. He couldn't help either of them if he didn't know what was going on.  
  
"H-he just asked me. If I liked cutting myself. and that was when he pinned me down."  
  
'Okay, so there was a knife, he pinned her down, obviously she was scared, he must have seen that, and now he thinks he killed her.' "He thinks he killed everyone."  
  
"What?"  
  
Yugi looked over at Tea and realized he'd just said his last thought out loud. "Oh. um. nothing."  
  
"Did you just say he thinks he killed everyone?"  
  
"Well. yeah."  
  
She gazed over at Yugi with concern as she continued to hug her legs to her chest. "Why does he think that?"  
  
He shrugged. "I really don't know. At lunch today he was all spaced out and then he said he'd killed you. Of course Joey had a spazz about this, and then Kaiba started screaming that he didn't do it. It was weird. We took him home, and then I called you. Joey had another spazz attack and started strangling Kaiba, then Kaiba started punching Joey. And then just all of a sudden he stopped and started going on about how he'd killed us all." He shook his head. "I came here after Kaiba passed out to see if I could find anything out from you." A thought entered his head. "I hope Joey doesn't strangle him while I'm gone."  
  
Tea sighed heavily. "I would go over and help. but I'm scared. I'm scared he'll do it again. He was acting so strange. Right after he stopped pinning me he started asking me to stop cutting, because it hurt him. He tried apologizing, but. I mean. What can you do about something like that?"  
  
"Hm. I understand. But would you mind coming back with me? You don't even have to be in the same room. It's just in case we need to ask you something more."  
  
She cringed and reluctantly answered, "If. you really need me. Then I guess. I could."  
  
((* feels all bad for making the chapters so weird * I'm sorry people... Just one more chapter of ish kinda this. and then it's better. I'M SORRY! Just please don't flame me or anything * is depressed and uneasy about the fic * I just hope you people still like it and will keep reading even though these parts are kinda screwy. but please bare with me. Laterz, and remember Keep Reviewing! It does get better, I promise!)) 


	6. Making Amends

Tea walked into the house with Yugi as she bit her lip nervously and kept glancing around paranoid. Yugi looked over at her and grabbed her hand.  
  
"Don't worry Tea. It's okay."  
  
She glanced down at him and flashed a brief smile. "Eheh, I'm sorry. It's just."  
  
He nodded. "Yeah, I know."  
  
"Tea!" Mokuba came bounding up and hugged her legs with a big smile.  
  
"Hi Mokuba."  
  
Yugi looked around and then at the stairwell. "Is Joey still up there?"  
  
"Yup, Joey and Tristan took him back up there after he passed out."  
  
"Again?"  
  
"Mm-hm."  
  
Yugi then left Mokuba hugging Tea as he headed up the stairwell and down the hall to Kaiba's room. Opening the door he stared in at Kaiba laying on his bed face down, hands tied behind his back, legs tied together, gag in mouth, with Joey sitting on him as Tristan sat on the couch and they both were reading magazines.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
Joey looked up and smiled. "Hey Yug. We found a way to shut him up."  
  
Walking over he took a better look at Kaiba who was staring death at Joey from where his head was lying sideways on the pillow.  
  
"Eheh, is that such a good idea?"  
  
The blonde shrugged and picked up his magazine again. "Beats me. This was the only way we could keep him still though."  
  
Worry showed on Yugi's face, as he tried to hide a little smile at how funny Kaiba looked right then. "Did you try NOT sitting on him?"  
  
He nodded. "Yup. Didn't work. He rolled off the bed and started kicking. He's a feisty one, aren't you Kaiba?" He patted his captive on the head and grinned.  
  
Just then Tea nervously entered the room and she stared at Seto being sat on by Joey.  
  
Seto's eyes found Tea and they spread wide as he tried to speak through the gag. "Mrea?"  
  
Joey looked up then and saw Tea in the door. Jumping up he ran over and hugged her. "Tea! Hey what's up?!"  
  
Tristan lifted his head and then ran over as well. He joined in hugging her as well. "Tea! Girl! We miss you!"  
  
"Hi guys." Her reply was a little less than enthusiastic as her gaze never left the bound form on the bed who continued staring at her as well.  
  
Joey stopped hugging her and stared at her stressed expression. "Hey Tea, you don't have to sound so thrilled."  
  
Tristan smacked him upside the head. "Shut up Joey."  
  
With a blank expression on her face Tea slowly advanced forward towards the bed until she was next to it. Kneeling down next to it she stared straight into Seto's eyes without a word.  
  
Everything in the room went silent as she sat there staring at him as a tear began to hesitantly make its way down her face. "Seto?"  
  
"Mrea. Aing oh forry. Pweafe froorguve ee."  
  
Taking her hands she untied the gag from the back of his head and looked into his eyes again with the same pained expression on her face.  
  
"Tea, please. I'm sorry. I just so sorry." He buried his head in the pillow. "I don't know why I did it, but please. You have to believe me when I say that I'd never do it again, Ever!"  
  
She kept staring at him as he looked at her again.  
  
"Please Tea. Don't look at me like that. You know I'd never want to hurt you. I-I. I was just so worried about you. I didn't want you to end up like me. I was scared Tea, I was scared."  
  
Her eyes never left his, and her expression stayed the same. Blankly staring at him as the hurt grew in her eyes, focusing itself on Seto.  
  
He looked back at her and the picture of her dead body flashed into his mind, followed by his own smiling face. "No. no, no, no." Rolling to the other side of the bed and off he propped himself up so that he was kneeling. He stared over at Tea and the picture flashed again. "Stop it!" He squeezed his eyes shut but the image came back to haunt him. "Oh, please stop it. I don't want to see that anymore." Opening his eyes again he gazed over at Tea with his jaw set and tears slowly trickling down his face. "I won't do that to you. I don't care what he says. I won't. I understand if you never want to see my face again Tea. I couldn't say that I'd blame you. After all that I've put you through. I've turned out just like him. Just like him." Wincing he looked away from her. "You shouldn't have to go through that. I don't want you to have to go through that."  
  
Standing up, Tea walked over and kneeled down next to Kaiba where she continued staring at him without saying a word.  
  
"No." He shook his head. "I won't do that to you." He let his head fall forward and lean against his bed. "Stop it. Don't make me do that to her!"  
  
Jerking upright he stood rigid as his expression went blank and his eyes stared at nothing. "I'm sorry sir. I'll fix them, I can get them right. It's only the eighth time I've tried. I can still try more. Can I please go outside and play?" He winced. "Sorry sir, won't happen again. I'll be quiet, I won't cry. Crying is for babies. Yes sir, I understand. I'll go fix those programs now." He paused in his train of thought. "Look at them down there. I think I know them. Are they in my class? Yes they are. They look like they're having fun. I wish I could play, but playing is for children. I can't be a child. Mokuba's counting on me." There was another long pause. "Sir? Could I please invite some guests over? . No, they're from my school. . I see sir. Yes sir. Won't happen again sir." He lifted his hands blindly in front of him and started acting like he was typing at the keyboard. "I'll be done soon. Then maybe I can go outside. I could go see if those other kids want to play with me. What were their names again? Yugi? He looked nice. He looked like he had nice friends." Turning his head blankly he stared at the door. "Oh, I'm sorry sir. I'll be done with these programs soon. Yes I was going to go see if they would play with me. No? I can't? Oh yes sir. I see sir. Are these good enough?" He pointed at the imaginary screen in front of him. "Yes sir. I though they were done. Do them again? Yes sir." He paused again and stared down at the ground. "Ninth time's the charm. I'll get it right. I-I can make them work, sir."  
  
Shaking his head his pupils dilated again and he looked over at Tea. "I won't. I refuse! I won't let you end up like everyone else. I won't kill you. I won't let myself. I don't care what he says. I won't! . Joey dead, Yugi's dead, Tristan's dead, Mokuba's dead. I killed them all." He closed his eyes and shivered. "I saw it. I saw all of them. All of them, sitting there, lifeless on the ground. Bleeding, blood everywhere. And I was smiling. Through it all I was smiling. I wanted the blood, it tasted good, just like my own." Falling over onto the rug he buried his face in the carpet. "Please make them stop. I don't want to see them anymore. I don't want to be left alone. Not again. Not again. Not without Mokuba. STOP IT!" He screamed out in pain and shook violently as his pupils dilated and retracted and cold sweat began to run down his face. "No. No. Oh please no. I'm sorry. I'll do better next time. Ten times. I'll try ten times. I'll fix it. I'm sorry sir. I never meant to disappoint you. I just wanted to go outside and play. They looked like such nice people." He screamed again. "Oh please just make them stop!"  
  
Curling up into a ball as best he could he sat there shivering as blood began to trickle slowly out of the side of his mouth as he began to mutter quietly, "Seven, eight, nine. Nobody cares about Seto Kaiba. Gozaburo was right. Nobody likes a whiner. Maybe I'll just go to sleep. A nice long sleep with no dreams for eternity. Then my body will go still, my heart will stop, I'll turn into ice and be rigid, the breath will halt, the blood won't flow. It will just slowly seep from my veins to the ground. I've seen it before. So why not again? It almost came true. And nobody cares about Seto Kaiba, he's lost everything now. Mokuba, Tea. Tea was taken from him, and it was his fault too. So he took himself away, hoping to find her. But he never did. Not even in death. Cold, still death. happiness." Closing his eyes he sighed and with one last shiver his body went limp.  
  
******************  
  
Tea stared down at him and then back at Yugi. "He's been doing that a lot. hasn't he?" He nodded and then she looked back down at Kaiba. Sighing slightly she untied the ropes that Joey and Tristan had put there. Pulling him back onto the bed she rested his head on the pillow and stared down at him. "I can't believe how lost he is."  
  
Joey walked over and put his hand on Tea's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it. He'll get better. We'll just take him to a psychiatrist and they'll help him."  
  
Her eyes began to water as she stared at Seto. "I don't want to send him to somebody else. He needs my help."  
  
The blonde cocked and eyebrow at her. "But are you sure he's not gonna attack you again?"  
  
Shaking her head she continued gazing down at the figure on the bed. "I have to help him Joey. I partially caused him to be this way. If I hadn't been hurting myself in the first place he never would've been driven too." She sighed and sat down next to Seto and brushed a few strands of hair out of his face. "I'll be fine guys. I think it would be a good idea for you to leave though. Yugi?"  
  
"Yes Tea?"  
  
"Could you please tell my mom that I'm going to be out kind of late tonight. Tell her I'm staying at your place. She wouldn't let me stay here."  
  
Yugi nodded and walked out of the room as he dragged Joey and Tristan out with him. "Okay. I'll do that. Good luck."  
  
"Thanks Yugi." She watched them leave and then gazed back at Kaiba. "I hope you're okay Seto."  
  
********************  
  
Kaiba was sitting in the black void that he had come so accustomed to in his dreams.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
His voice echoed back at him and he stood up. Beginning to walk of into the distance he heard the feint sound of voices.  
  
'Hey, don't worry about it. He'll get better. We'll just take him to a psychiatrist and they'll help him.'  
  
"Joey?" He stared up at what would have been the sky.  
  
'I don't want to send him to somebody else. He needs my help.'  
  
"Tea? Tea, is that you?" He continued staring up and walking as there was a long silence and then. 'I hope you're okay Seto.'  
  
Stopping in his tracks he blinked a couple of times. "Seto. Kaiba?" He looked at his hands. "Seto." He stared at his right. "Kaiba." He glanced at his left. "Seto?" Right hand. "Kaiba?" Left hand. "Seto Kaiba?" He placed one hand in the other and stared at them both. "Which is stronger. Seto. or Kaiba?"  
  
He began walking again as he continued staring at his hands. "I didn't kill them. Did I? . No, I saw Tea. She wasn't dead. So is everyone okay? I think so. I saw Joey too, and Yugi. They weren't dead. I didn't kill them. They're all fine. Just fine." A smile began to trace itself on his lips. "Everything is fine. I'm not back there. He's not here anymore. Everything is just fine."  
  
**********************  
  
His eyes flickered open as he looked up at Tea who was sitting next to him. "T-Tea?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Are you. mad at me?"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"Are you still scared?"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
She smiled. "I know."  
  
Sitting up he looked around the room. "Where did everyone else go?"  
  
"I told them to go home."  
  
"Oh." He nodded and felt a headache slowly growing in his temples. "What happened?"  
  
She pushed him gently back down onto the pillow. "You passed out, a couple of times."  
  
A few images flickered through his mind of what had happened all with a fuzzy haze around them. "Did I do something bad?" The pounding started to grow in his head.  
  
"Other than a few sort of daydreams I don't think there was any harm done."  
  
He grabbed at his head as the pressure grew on it. "What did I dream about?"  
  
Tea cocked her head to the side slightly. "Don't you know?"  
  
"Not really. no."  
  
Getting up she went into the bathroom for a second and returned with a glass of water and a few pills in her hand. She handed them to Kaiba and then sat down again. "What was your adopted father like?"  
  
His eyes narrowed and he glared down at the sheets. "I'd rather not talk about him." Dumping the pills into his mouth he drank the water and then handed them back to Tea.  
  
"Do you miss him?"  
  
Grinding his teeth together he clenched his fists. "May he rot in hell."  
  
Tea glanced curiously at him. "Didn't you love him at all?"  
  
"If you're asking me if I loved the hours in front of the computer writing those STUPID programs. then no. And if you're asking whether I loved being told I was a pathetic worm, no I don't really think I did." He dug his fingernails into his palms and then looked over at Tea. Seeing her look of concern he sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry."  
  
She stared at the floor uncomfortably, "Was he really that bad?"  
  
". It all depends. He wasn't bad to Mokuba. . . It was just me I guess."  
  
She just nodded.  
  
"Look, Tea, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have even told you. It's not like you wanted to here about this. I didn't mean to get you involved in my problems. I should've just- AGH!" He clutched at his head as the picture of Tea's corpse appeared again. After a few moments he nervously lifted his head and looked at her again. "A-Are you okay?"  
  
"Um, yeah. Why?"  
  
Reaching his hand forward he touched the middle of her forehead. "It's not there." He tapped at it a couple more times and then ran his finger along her neck.  
  
She winced a little just out of a nervous reaction. "What's not there?"  
  
Seto sighed and leaned back on the bed. "Nothing. The other guys, Joey, Yugi, Tristan, are they okay?"  
  
"Um. yeah."  
  
He nodded and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I just. I keep seeing it, and I was starting to believe that I'd actually done it."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"No really, what?"  
  
"It's nothing Tea."  
  
"I know it's something."  
  
"It's Nothing Okay?!"  
  
She jerked backwards and hurt grew on her face as she looked at the ground. "I-I'm sorry."  
  
Sighing again he let his head fall into his hands. "No. It's my fault. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell." Lifting his gaze he looked at her. "I keep seeing all of you dead. That's all. I guess it scares me. I don't know whether I would ever actually do that. I know that I'm completely capable of it. That's the main thing. Most people can say that they'd never actually be able to bring themselves to kill somebody. But I'm not sure if that's true for me."  
  
Tea lifted her eyes at him again. "Do you really think you'd be able to do that?"  
  
"I-I just don't know."  
  
Moving back closer to him and she hugged him. "I don't think you could."  
  
Pushing her away slightly he stared in her eyes. "Are you sure? I mean are you absolutely positive of that?"  
  
"Yeah. I am." She had to admit that she was still slightly afraid of Kaiba, but after everything. it just didn't seem right to go and abandon him about a mistake that he really seemed to feel sorry about. He'd gotten so shaken up about it. How could she not help him? How could she just let him go away by himself? It would be very easy for him to loose ties with Yugi after she left. Yugi was the only thing that gave her a small amount of hope that Seto would be okay. And despite everything, Tea had stopped hurting herself. Despite what she may have thought at first, Kaiba's assault had helped her, in some sort of odd way.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Oh." She looked up and blinked a couple of times. "I was just thinking. You know I stopped cutting."  
  
"Really?" Propping himself up he pushed up her sleeves and looked at her arms. They were still healing, but healing was a good thing, nothing new. Slowly, very slowly, a half smile came onto his face. "Thank you. Oh thank you." He grabbed her and hugged her. "Thank you Tea. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I did that to you."  
  
With a small giggle she hugged him as well. "I shouldn't have put that stress on you either. It's okay. I guess we both sort of messed up."  
  
Holding her away slightly he stared at her hopefully. "You mean you forgive me?"  
  
A nod and a smile.  
  
"I'm so glad. I was afraid I'd loose you. I couldn't stand to loose you Tea. I love you."  
  
This caused her to giggle again and he lifted an eyebrow.  
  
"What.?"  
  
She smiled. "That's the first time you've really said you loved me."  
  
Looking at the floor he shrugged. "Well I do."  
  
Still smiling she lay down next to him and started twisting a small part of his bangs with her fingers. "I know Seto. I know." 


	7. Grumbling

((Okie, I'm just clearing up a little thing that people pointed out to me about the keyboard typing when his hands were tied. Let's just say that they were tied in front of him ^_^ Then he can still type even if his wrists are tied together, they didn't do anything to his fingers, hehe. Well anyway, I was just fixing that a little, and if you don't like my explanation then I sowwy =( But I can't really do that much about it at this point, hehe. Laterz!))  
  
"Look. It's getting later. I have to go home or my mom's gonna get mad at me."  
  
Putting his arm around her shoulder he nuzzled into her hair. "Are you sure?"  
  
She smiled and took his arm away. "Yes, yes, I'm sure. Are you gonna be okay until tomorrow?"  
  
"I'll try." He hung his head and glanced sideways at her with a little smile.  
  
Rolling her eyes with a smirk she rumpled up his hair. "Oh you'll be fine." And then with a quick kiss she ran out the door. "See ya."  
  
******************  
  
Joey was grumbling over his food the next day at lunch. "I don't get it. We spend the WHOLE day trying to get him better, and then Tea comes and she fixes him in like an hour. What's up with that?"  
  
"Well I don't think beating on him helped." Tristan gave a smug smile as he ate his sandwich.  
  
"Hey! That was only once. or twice."  
  
"Joey, where'd you get that?" Yugi peered down at Joey's throat.  
  
He shrugged. "Yesterday."  
  
"Oh, hey, yeah, I was gonna ask you about that." Tristan looked over.  
  
The blonde shrugged again. "Kaiba sorta spazzed, that's all, no biggie."  
  
"Was that when he ran outside and was gonna chop his head off?"  
  
"Yeah. pinned me down and cut just a little, then he went all freaky like he kept doing."  
  
"Wh-what?" Yugi looked back and forth between the two completely lost.  
  
"That's when he passed out right?"  
  
"Mm-hm. You know something weird though? It was like he was talking to someone."  
  
"Any idea who?"  
  
Joey shook his head. "No clue. He didn't want to turn out like them though. It's kinda weird how scared he seemed, you don't generally think of Kaiba as being the cowering type."  
  
"Or the suicidal kind."  
  
"Yeah, that too. I thought he'd gotten over that?"  
  
"I dunno, maybe it was just this weird thing that made him want to do that."  
  
"He could just have somethin' against throats."  
  
"That's stupid, who has something against throats?"  
  
"Maybe Kaiba. He didn't seem to mind that much about cutting his own."  
  
"Huh?" Yugi remained lost.  
  
"I really think he was just freaked out."  
  
"He didn't seem freaked out enough to not notice me chasin' him."  
  
"It's hard not to notice You chasing Anyone."  
  
"Hey, I stopped him didn't I?"  
  
"He SO would've wasted you if he hadn't zoned out."  
  
"I could've gotten away."  
  
"Sure, whatev-"  
  
"What are you talking about?!"  
  
Tristan and Joey finally noticed their confused friend.  
  
The blonde gave a little smirk. "Oh yeah, you weren't there."  
  
"I guess not." He folded his arms and stared at them a little peeved. "So what happened?"  
  
Joey shrugged. "Kaiba was going all mental and was gonna slit his throat. I ran after him though. That's how I got this." He pointed at his neck. "S'no big deal. He pinned me down and then had his space out and then passed out. That's when I brought him back and me and Tristan tied him up upstairs after he had woken up a couple more times and tried to cut his head off again."  
  
"Oh." He nodded. "Why did you tie him up again?"  
  
Tristan smiled. "We couldn't keep him from bashing Joey's face in. You'd be surprised how determined that guy can get."  
  
"Um. yeah. I'm just glad I got Tea over before you tried smacking him over the head with a frying pan."  
  
Another smile from Tristan. "We tried that. Joey's idea. How else do you think we kept him unconscious long enough to tie him up?"  
  
Yugi just rolled his eyes and sighed. "Now I'm really glad that I got Tea over."  
  
Joey looked at his shorter friend and then back at his food before mumbling, "I still don't see how she can fix him so fast."  
  
"Not that again. She's just special okay?" Tristan eyed him.  
  
More grumbling. "She didn't even get how she died explained to her."  
  
Yugi smirked a little. "Joey. They've got something special going. Maybe it's just a girl thing, I don't know, but it really doesn't matter that much."  
  
"Sure Yug. I'll believe ya."  
  
****************  
  
Tea grabbed her coat and was about to head out the door when her mom came out of the kitchen and looked at her.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Over to Yugi's. Why is there something wrong with that?"  
  
Her mother smiled and shook her head. "No dear, I'm glad you've started talking to them again. You have been acting so isolated since we moved."  
  
This caused a little shrug from her daughter who then made her way out the door. "Be back before ten."  
  
"Okay honey." She smiled and headed back into the kitchen. 'It's good she's gotten back with her friends and stopped hanging around that Kaiba character. I've been worried about her.'  
  
*****************  
  
Tea walked up the stairs in Kaiba's house up to his office. Tapping on the door lightly she opened it and peeked in to see him typing.  
  
"What is it Mokuba?"  
  
"Hi Seto."  
  
He lifted his eyes from the screen and looked over at her with a smile. "Hey Tea. I was wondering when you were coming." Turning his computer off he walked over and stood in front of her. "So what ever happened to your parents not wanting you to see me?"  
  
Tea smiled a little and grabbing his hand started dragging him downstairs. "Technically I'm at Yugi's right now."  
  
"So that's how it's going to work? Sneaking around behind your parents' backs and hiding away so that they never know."  
  
Plopping down on the couch she gave another smile. "Yup, that's basically it."  
  
He shook his head and chuckled. "Not exactly your style, but it has a certain flare to it."  
  
She shrugged. "What else can I do?"  
  
"There isn't much else really." He leaned his head down and ran his finger across her neck and then pressed his thumb lightly on her forehead. "Okay. So what should we do?"  
  
"Well. I'd sort of like to go visit Yugi and the guys. I haven't really gotten a chance to visit with them."  
  
He nodded and looked at her neck again. "Sure, I'd like to check on them too."  
  
She shook her head slightly. "Seto, they're fine. We're all fine."  
  
"I know. I just would feel better if I was able to see it."  
  
With a little smile she got up and headed for the door. "Okay then. but you don't need to worry about them."  
  
******************  
  
Seto slowly pushed the door open to the game shop. It was his first real visit here. Sure he'd been there before. but that was when he had been looking for the fourth blue eyes. That didn't give him the best feeling on how much Yugi's Grandpa would like him. Nevertheless he walked inside with Tea and a glanced around at the walls filled with various cards and other such gaming activities.  
  
"Hello? Is anyone home?" Tea started walking up the stairs. "Yugi?"  
  
"Should we really go up there?" He had shoved his hands in his pockets resolutely so as to stop himself from playing with them nervously.  
  
"Why not?" She continued climbing. "Yugi? Are you home?"  
  
Seto watched her disappear up the stairwell and stood there feeling very out of place in the middle of the room.  
  
"Yugi's not here Tea! She went over to." Yugi's Grandpa's voice trailed off as he stared at Kaiba standing in the middle of the shop. Folding his arms his expression went blank and he lifted his eyebrows. "May I help you?"  
  
"I'm just here with Tea."  
  
The harsh undertone to his voice was not hidden in the least. "And what is a nice girl like Tea doing with someone like you?"  
  
However much Seto may have wanted to have acted nice to this old man whom he felt sort of a guilt towards for his past occurrences with him. He wasn't going to just sit there and be insulted! "She's fine, old man, now if you'd please. Tell me where Yugi is."  
  
"And what do you want with Yugi?"  
  
He gritted his teeth. "Tea and I were here to see him. Obviously he's not here, you started saying that he went over to someone's house. My guess is that it would be either Joey or Tristan's. Now tell me which one it is so that we can be on our way."  
  
Kaiba was only met with a cold glare.  
  
"Grandpa, do you know where." Tea came down the stairs and was met with the scene of Grandpa staring coldly at Kaiba and in return Kaiba glaring back at him with his body tensed. "Um."  
  
Looking over to see Tea, Yugi's Grandfather relaxed quite noticeably and smiled at her. "Oh hello Tea. Yugi's over at Joey's right now. He won't be back until later tonight."  
  
She nodded and started pushing Kaiba out the door as he kept glaring at the old man behind the counter. 'Stupid old fool, what does he know.'  
  
*****************  
  
When they had gotten outside Tea sighed and looked over at Seto. "What was that about?"  
  
He started walking down the street glaring at the sidewalk. "Idiotic moron."  
  
Running up beside him she grabbed onto his arm. "Hey. What is it?"  
  
Kaiba just continued muttering curses under his breath as he walked down the street.  
  
Waiting for a little while Tea finally gave up and yanked his arm forcing him to stop.  
  
"What?" He shot his eyes at her in a glare. Noticing her look of concern he shook his head and looked back down at the sidewalk. "Sorry."  
  
"Are you okay now?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
She smiled and started walking with him again. "So. Yugi's at Joey's now. Do we wanna go there?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
She looked at him still with a look of flittering anger on his face. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"  
  
He nodded but remained silent.  
  
Tea wasn't sure whether he really would be, but she walked with him anyway. Hey, if worst came to worst she could always force him out of there. Hopefully. 


	8. Visits

Tea opened the door to Joey's house with a still slightly sulking Kaiba following. Walking into the house she heard the sound of voices coming from the living room and made her way towards it. She peered around the door.  
  
"Woo-hoo! Two Hundred smackers right here baby." Joey grinned and held his hand out to Yugi who picked up the bills and handed them to his friend.  
  
"Joey. It's not that big of a deal to pass go. Everyone gets two hundred dollars."  
  
The blonde still grinned and held the paper money in his hand. "But it still makes me two hundred bucks richer."  
  
Tristan shook his head and picked up the dice. "Whatever. Just leave him be Yugi, being stupid is all he's good at."  
  
Yugi just smiled at this and looked up from the board game. "Hey Tea!"  
  
Joey and Tristan looked up from the game as well.  
  
"Oh hey Tea."  
  
"Wassup?"  
  
She walked further into the room and went and sat down on the couch as she looked over the game. "Oh not much. So what are you guys doing?"  
  
Yugi picked up the dice and smiled. "Monopoly."  
  
Tristan pointed over at Joey. "He's loosing."  
  
"No I'm not!"  
  
"Then why are you almost flat broke?"  
  
"I just keep landing on the wrong squares."  
  
Tristan smiled and started counting his paper money. "Let's see. Eight hundred, nine hundred, a thousand, a thousand and one hundred."  
  
Grumbling Joey got up. "I'm gonna go get a soda." Walking out of the room he went into the fridge and grabbed a can of Pepsi. He was heading back to the living room when he noticed the figure leaning against the wall next to the door muttering something under his breath. The blonde walked over to him and smiled. "Hey dude. I didn't know you were here."  
  
Kaiba lifted his eyes off the ground and glared at Joey. "Shut up."  
  
He cocked his eyebrow. "What's up with you?"  
  
Still glaring Kaiba leaned forward and meshed through Joey's hair at the side of his head for a second and then leaned back against the wall. "You're fine. Now go away."  
  
Walking back into the living room Joey plopped down next to Tea on the couch. "Hey, what's up with Kaiba?"  
  
Tea glanced over at him. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean has he turned into monkey man or something? He just searched through my hair like he was looking for something."  
  
"Oh. that, hehe." She giggled nervously. "He's just checking, you know."  
  
"For what?"  
  
Tea sighed and rolled her eyes. Just before she was about to answer Kaiba appeared in the doorway. He walked over and looked at Yugi and then Tristan. Crouching down he stared at Yugi's shirt, turning his head he then looked at the back of Tristan's head.  
  
"You're fine. Good." Getting up he went and sat down next to Tea where he tapped at her forehead for the second time that day.  
  
She sighed again. "Seto it's okay, we're all fine."  
  
He just shook his head and stood up again where he shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm going home, I have to check on Mokuba. Later." Walking towards the door he was about to head out of the room when Joey grabbed the back of his coat.  
  
"Hey, dude, what's up with you? You're over there in like a total mood and then you come over here and start poking people. What's up with that?"  
  
Kaiba yanked himself out of Joey's grasp and glared at him. "It's nothing, you're fine, now leave me alone."  
  
Standing up Joey walked over and stood in the doorway. "That's not gonna work for ya buddy."  
  
Seto clenched his fists and spoke through gritted teeth. "It's nothing Fido. Now let me leave."  
  
The blonde continued blocking the doorway and shook his head. "Now it's Fido again? Well bow-wow, tell us what's up and then you can go."  
  
"Don't. push it."  
  
"Why? Are you gonna go all homicidal on me again?"  
  
"It all depends."  
  
Joey shrugged. "I'll move when I feel like it."  
  
Kaiba started forward but Tea got up and grabbed his arm. She then looked over at her friend blocking the door. "Come on Joey, just move, it's not that big of a deal."  
  
A little smirk appeared on his face. "Then why can't he just tell us?"  
  
Removing Tea off himself Kaiba strode over in front of Joey, punched him in the stomach, shoved him out of the way, and walked out the door.  
  
The blonde fell to the floor clutching at his stomach. "Ow."  
  
Walking over to him Tea helped him up and walked him back over to the couch. "I told you to move."  
  
Tristan grinned at his winded friend. "I guess he's just too stupid to know what's good for him."  
  
Still trying to get air back in his lungs Joey glared at Tristan and wheezed. "Shut up."  
  
Yugi was still curious as to why Kaiba had been staring at them. "So why was he being weird like that?"  
  
Tea gazed down at him sitting on the floor. "Well, he's kind of upset because we had a little run in with your grandpa earlier. I don't think he likes Seto very much."  
  
Joey couldn't help but smile. "Well why would he? He's the one who killed his blue eyes when Kaiba already had the other three."  
  
Yugi shook his head. "Actually I was talking about him looking over everybody. but it makes sense that he and Grandpa wouldn't like each other still."  
  
"Oh that. It's no big deal. He's just checking to see whether you guys are dead or not."  
  
Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Can't he see that though? We're moving aren't we?"  
  
"I don't know. It just makes him feel better to check. You'd probably be the same way too." She stood up. "I better go follow him. It was nice seeing you guys though." With a happy smile she headed out the door leaving her three friends back in Joey's living room.  
  
Yugi looked over at his blonde friend sitting on the couch who was grinning. "What are you smiling about?"  
  
Joey, by now fully back to normal, got up and headed for his room. "Come on you guys, I got a great gag we can pull on Kaiba."  
  
Slowly putting the board game away Yugi shook his head and then followed after Joey. "How do I somehow know that this is going to be a bad idea?"  
  
*******************  
  
Joey came out of the bathroom and Yugi's eyes spread wide.  
  
"Don't tell me that was your idea?"  
  
Walking over to the mirror the blonde adjusted the fake axe on his head and moved a couple strands of red-dyed hair. "What? Don't you think it'll be funny?" With a grin he turned back to face Yugi with his skin painted a slight shade of white so as to get rid of the coloring. "Is there something wrong with it?"  
  
Yugi looked at him with that you're-insane look. "Well YEAH!"  
  
Joey looked down at himself in the mirror again. "What is it?"  
  
"How do you think Kaiba's gonna react to that.?"  
  
The blonde turned back. "He'll have a spazz attack and then later we'll look back on it and laugh our heads off."  
  
Yugi shook his head. "After he gets back from the mental institute."  
  
"Nah. he won't do that."  
  
"How far are you really going to test that? He was freaked out about it that day, and practically WAS insane. And today he was checking to make sure we were all okay, because he's paranoid that he really DID kill us all."  
  
"And your point."  
  
"And my POINT, is that this is a STUPID idea that is going to get yourself SERIOUSLY hurt!"  
  
Joey looked hurt and stared at his friend. "Come on Yug. It'll be fine."  
  
The violet eyes locked onto his friend as he got up and ripped the fake axe out of his friend's hair. "We are not doing this. Seriously Joey. This has got to be one of the stupidest ideas you've ever had."  
  
Just then Tristan walked into the room and taking one look at Joey fell to the floor in hysterics.  
  
"What?"  
  
"THAT was your idea?" He continued laughing his head off and clutching at his sides as little tears streamed out of his eyes.  
  
Yugi just kept glaring at Joey and chucked the plastic axe in a closet. "That we're NOT doing!"  
  
Tristan finally got up off the floor and wiped his eyes on his sleeve as he continued giggling a little. "I can't believe you were actually going to do that Joey."  
  
The blonde slumped down on the floor and grumbled. "It wasn't that bad of an idea."  
  
Walking over he patted his friend's head. "Yeah, it really was. But hey, you're just being your blonde self."  
  
He glared up at Tristan from the floor. "Shut up."  
  
Tristan continued patting his head. "It's okay Fido, we'll just get you some doggy chow, then you'll be all happy."  
  
Yugi had disappeared into the bathroom and now returned with a wet washcloth and gave it to Joey to wipe the white paint off his face. "There you go." He saw that Joey was moping and shook his head. "Don't worry about it Joey, so it was a stupid idea, but at least you didn't go through with it."  
  
He just kept sitting on the floor mumbling about how he wasn't stupid, and it would've been funny, and other such stuff of trying to defend himself.  
  
Rolling his eyes Yugi smiled a little. 'He'll get over it. No big deal. awe well.'  
  
*****************  
  
Kaiba was walking down the street with his hands shoved in his pockets as he glared at the sidewalk. He didn't know exactly why he was so upset. Maybe it was just that Joey was being his normal asshole self. No, that wasn't it. Joey hadn't been that bad. Was it Yugi's Grandpa? A little. That old fool could've at least TRIED to be polite, instead of telling him off like that. So maybe Kaiba hadn't been the nicest to him in the past, but shouldn't grownups be more mature than to hold silly grudges against people? Seto sure wasn't holding any grudges against Yugi. but he had beaten him eventually. He didn't have any grudges against Joey though. even if he had been able to beat the crap out of him a couple times. Well he didn't hold grudges against. Okay so he didn't have any reasons to hold grudges. But STILL, he wouldn't hold any grudges if he had a right to. Except for Gozaburo, one exception. but that was a different story.  
  
Still having his eyes locked on the cement beneath him he shook his head. Stupid people. Why do they always have to be so idiotic? Parents overreacting, Joey being too curious for his own good, old people holding grudges. Tea running up behind him, Tea shouting his name, Tea yanking on his arm, Tea trying to get him to answer, Tea being worried when he just wanted to be left alone, Tea really starting to piss him off, Tea being just in the wrong spot, just at the wrong time, just on the wrong day, just in the wrong week.  
  
He stopped. He stood there. He stared at her. "Tea. leave me alone."  
  
"I know something's wrong. What is it?"  
  
Why does she have to be so damn concerned?!  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
"I know it's something."  
  
"It's nothing!"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Fuck off!" Turning away from her he stomped off down the sidewalk.  
  
Idiots, morons, imbeciles, simpletons, half-wits, fools, cretins, idiots. idiots. People were all just idiots. Why did they all have to be so stupid? Everywhere he went they were all just so stupid. Work, stupid. School, stupid. Home, stupid. Anywhere on the whole damn planet, stupid. Why couldn't they all just stop being such morons for a while and learn when to mind their own business. He was fine, just fine, he didn't need any help, so he was in a bit of a mood, that was normal, everybody gets that way every once in a while, everybody wants to kick the shit out of anybody who crosses them wrong occasionally. So why did people always insist on asking about it? Did he have to have a reason? Maybe he just Felt like it. Do you always have to have a reason to want to kick the crap out of somebody?  
  
Kaiba finally stopped himself in front of a house. He'd never been here before, but he knew who lived there. Bakura. That stupid British kid from school. British people were stupid too. He deserved to have his face smashed in just as much as anybody else.  
  
Walking up to the door he knocked sharply on it. He heard the sound of several locks being taken off and then a silver head was before him.  
  
"Hello? May I help you?"  
  
"Bakura." He glared coldly at him.  
  
"Um. yes. That's me. Do you want something?" He glanced around a little nervously. You would too if some random person from your class came up to your door, one who had never spoken to you before directly, and who was now staring death at you.  
  
"You."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You're too happy."  
  
"Um. okay."  
  
"You shouldn't be so happy."  
  
Feeling very uncomfortable at this point Bakura started closing the door. "I think I'm going to go now."  
  
Kaiba kicked the door open and continued glaring daggers at Bakura.  
  
Fidgeting nervously Bakura kept his eyes locked on the floor. "Could I please ask you to leave?"  
  
"Die."  
  
He looked up. "Huh?"  
  
"Die!" Swinging his fist up he connected with Bakura's eye.  
  
"Ow!" He staggered back against the wall clutching at his face. "What was that for?"  
  
"You're stupid, and happy, just like everybody else. That bugs me." He swung his fist again into Bakura's stomach.  
  
Falling to the ground he clutched at his stomach and gasped to get air back in his lungs.  
  
Without any real regard for what he was doing, but just venting his anger onto the hapless being before him Kaiba met his fist a couple more times with Bakura's nose, other eye, cheek, chin, arm, shoulder, and of course a couple good kicks to boot. Finally after a couple of minutes he strode out the door and slammed it behind him leaving a bewildered, bruised, and very beaten Bakura behind.  
  
****************  
  
Tea trudged back into her house and up to her room with a disgruntled expression on her features. Kaiba didn't have a reason to be so upset at her. She was just trying to help. Was that so wrong? Shaking her head she fell down onto her bed and sighed. 'Yeah, it's fine. He'll probably just go lock himself up in his office until he gets it out of his system. Then he'll call, say he's sorry. and all will be well again.'  
  
Almost as if on cue the phone started ringing and Tea reached her arm over and picked it up.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi, is Tea there?"  
  
"This is she, who is it?"  
  
"Bakura." 


	9. Fixing It

((Hey everyone! To any of you people who think that the fic has gone completely nutzo and has no plot anymore . I'm sorry, it really does get better. Trust me. It's just been sort of whacked out right now. And possibly maybe a little later, but not as much as before. Anyway, I'm just reassuring and of you who may have been having doubts about it. But just trust me, it all sort of has a purpose. Anyway, keep reading, keep reviewing ^_^ Laterz!))  
  
Tea sat up on her bed now curios. "Hey, what's up?"  
  
There was a long pause from the other end.  
  
"Bakura, you still there?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Why'd you call?"  
  
"Did you and Kaiba have a fight or something?"  
  
Tea blinked a couple of times as to why he was asking this. "Um, a little," and then hesitantly, ".Why?"  
  
Sitting in his room Bakura dabbed at his bloody lip with a wet paper towel and looked as it began to slowly turn red. "He just paid me a visit."  
  
Again hesitantly, ".How?"  
  
"He just showed up at my door, told me I was too happy, and then started beating me up."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Just thought you'd like to know."  
  
"Hey. I'm sorry Bakura."  
  
He shrugged, "It's no big deal. Not like it's the first time or anything."  
  
"I'm still sorry."  
  
"Don't worry about it."  
  
Tea sulkily lay down on her bed. However much Kaiba may have been having some personal issues right now. sometimes he was just a real jerk. Why did he always have to vent his anger on somebody else, even when they hadn't even done anything?  
  
"Hey Bakura.?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you wanna come over?"  
  
He froze. "What?"  
  
"Do you want to come over?"  
  
"Um."  
  
"Well, do you?"  
  
"I'm not so sure that's a good idea."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It's just. not."  
  
"Come on, why not?"  
  
'Because you're in a fight with your boyfriend right now and I don't want to be in the middle of that.' "No reason."  
  
"There has to be SOME reason."  
  
Pausing again he leaned back on his own bed and sighed. "Tea. I just don't think I should right now."  
  
Making a pouty face that was invisible to him over the phone she pressed, "Is it because you don't like me?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Is it because you don't think I'm pretty?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Is it because you think I'm too immature?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then why on earth not?"  
  
"Just. Just, not now."  
  
"Tomorrow?"  
  
'Oh god Tea, don't make me do this.' "I don't think so."  
  
"We could go to a movie or something?"  
  
Giving a mild groan he buried his head in his pillow. "I don't think so Tea."  
  
Her face became even more pathetic. "You don't like me."  
  
"No, no, it's not that."  
  
"Then why?"  
  
"It's. It's. I can't explain."  
  
"Are you seeing someone?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then why won't you go to the movies with me?"  
  
"I just can't Tea."  
  
"You really don't like me, you just aren't telling me."  
  
'Tea. Why are you doing this to me?' "No Tea, I do like you. I just can't go with you. That's all."  
  
"Why can't we just go see one little movie?"  
  
He groaned again and hugged his pillow to his chest. "Tea."  
  
"Why can't you though?"  
  
Bakura pulled at his hair in despair. "I just don't think I'd feel comfortable."  
  
"Why, do you think I'm going to hit on you or something?"  
  
'Yes.' "No."  
  
"Well then why are you being so silly?"  
  
With another sigh he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Why are you pushing this?"  
  
"I just thought it would be nice."  
  
"Yeah. but why are you pushing it?"  
  
"Dunno exactly. but PLEASE Bakura?"  
  
He sighed again, and with another shake of the head he answered reluctantly. "Fine."  
  
Tea gave a happy little squeak on the other side. "So I'll see you?"  
  
He moaned and nodded. "Where should I meet you?"  
  
"I'll stop by over at your place."  
  
"Okay then, I'll see you."  
  
"Yup, see ya!"  
  
Bakura hung up the phone and curled up in a ball on his bed. 'What have I gotten myself into?'  
  
*******************  
  
Seto dialed Tea's pager. again. And we waited for ten minutes. again. He would have called her directly except for fear of her parents. 'Why isn't she calling me?' He whacked himself on the head. 'Because you yelled at her stupid! Why did I do that? She was only trying to help. And then I had to go and yell at her. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Kaiba!'  
  
Getting up from the chair in his office he went down the hall to his room. Picking up the phone he dialed. again. Then sitting on his bed he waited for it to be ten minutes, and then he called. again. Still nothing. 'Why do I have to be such an jerk sometimes?'  
  
He lay there on his bed staring at the ceiling calling every ten minutes, for about two more hours, and then finally got up. 'I gotta find out what's wrong. If only she'd give me a chance to apologize.'  
  
*******************  
  
Seto was driving down the road shaking his head. 'I can't just apologize. She can't just keep forgiving me like that. I have to do something.'  
  
Glancing from side to side on the street he finally saw something that was to his liking.  
  
Pulling in her parked the car and got out. Walking into the store he stared around at the objects surrounding him. 'Flowers. How idiotic can I get? But I have to try, it could possibly help some. I wonder what kind she likes.' Wandering around inside among the sunflowers, tulips, roses, daisies, and other such flora he looked from one side to the other. 'Maybe roses? I've heard that they are supposed to be good. Now let's see, what color. Red, white, or pink. Red is blood, white is death, pink is. Shit, why do I have to think like this?' Playing his fingers over the petals lightly he shook his head. 'Fine, white. I'm as good as dead anyway.'  
  
*********************  
  
Never feelings more awkward in his life Kaiba walked out of the store with a bouquet of white roses. 'Now, you can't afford to pull any weird stunt here. I wonder if she found out about Bakura.' He shook his head again. 'If she did then I am SO screwed. No messing up, gotta stay calm, don't loose my temper, try and be the best boyfriend I can be.'  
  
These last few words didn't sit quite right in his throat, but he shrugged it off and got back in the car where he continued onwards to Tea's. 'So what do I say? "Tea I'm sorry that I was such an ass."? That's always a start. Or maybe something like "I guess I was just being an idiot." Why do I always have to be so hung up on how stupid people are? She won't care how stupid I feel. She'll probably just be like "Whatever Seto, leave me alone." And shove me out the door or something. I can't expect her to forgive me for everything I do. Shit, why AM I such a jerk?'  
  
He parked down the street and got out of the car. Grabbing the flowers he made his way down the street and up the tree. The roses did prove quite a difficulty in climbing though, as long as he was trying to keep them intact that was.  
  
When Kaiba finally reached the branch he peered his head inside Tea's open window. Nobody. 'Where could she be?' Crawling the rest of the way through the window he looked around her empty room and his heart sank. 'Well so much for that.' With a heavy sigh he put the flowers down on her desk and picked up a small piece of paper and scribbled on it:  
  
Hello Tea,  
  
I came to apologize for yelling at you earlier, but you weren't here. I got you these flowers. Hope you like them. Again I'm really sorry, I didn't have a right to yell at you. I was just sort of in a mood and I guess I wasn't thinking clearly. I hope you accept this, and I hope to hear from you as soon as you get back.  
  
Yours truly, Seto Kaiba  
  
*********************  
  
Bakura walked into the movie theatre with Tea slowly. He really didn't want to be here. I mean he REALLY didn't want to be here. 'Why did I even agree to go with her in the first place? I know it's going to end in disaster, either with Tea hating me, Kaiba hating me, or both. and possibly a good bunch of bruises to go with it.' He continued following dumbly behind Tea as she got the popcorn and then they went into where the actual movie was being showed.  
  
With a quiet groan Bakura slid down into his seat next to her and tried his best to smile for her. It wasn't like he had anything against being here with Tea, it was just that he knew she was just upset at Kaiba, and he was a sort of alternative source. It never feels good to think that you're just being used, and knowing that it's probably true.  
  
Shaking his head he took the popcorn from her and dejectedly started munching away at it. 'Avoid any sort of physical contact. If you just keep this as friendly, then nobody gets hurt. Either mentally.' He put a finger to a lump on his head. 'Or physically.'  
  
His thoughts continued wandering as the movie started and it played through the previews. 'Why would Tea be doing this? It's not like her to be so insensitive. Maybe it's just my imagination. Maybe my mind is just playing tricks with me. It's possible she could've just meant this to be two friends seeing a movie and not had a second thought about it.'  
  
Just then he felt Tea lean up against his arm and then he closed his eyes and sighed. 'Nope. I was wrong. She's not doing that. She's really just being oblivious to what's going on.'  
  
Bakura munched away at the popcorn for a while longer as the movie progressed until he noticed Tea snuggle a little closer to him. Giving a shudder he tried to ignore it and keep watching the movie but. 'No, I know she must have something going through her mind but. no.'  
  
Pushing Tea back into her own seat he saw her look at him curiously as he got up.  
  
"What is it Bakura?"  
  
"I have to go. to the bathroom."  
  
"Okay, don't be gone long." She turned back to the screen.  
  
Making his way up the dark aisle that was dimly lit with those small theatre lights Bakura walked out into the brighter part of the building and then headed for the bathroom. Pushing the door open he went to the sink and filled his hands with water. As soon as they were full he splashed it onto his face. 'Something. something. I have to think of something. Tea is Definitely being too friendly. I just wish I knew more about the situation. Let's see, Kaiba's now fine with Tea's friends, so obviously he must of done something on his own.' The thought crossed his mind that him informing Tea of Kaiba's little visit to his house didn't help. 'Awe well, can't do anything about that now. There must have been some reason why Kaiba was so upset in the first place. But what? No time to think about that now, I just have to find a way to get through this without anyone getting their feelings hurt.' Walking into one of the stalls he closed the door behind him and sat down on the closed lid and rested his head on his hands. 'What can I do?'  
  
**********************  
  
Tea was sitting in the theatre eating her popcorn quite happily. She was watching a movie, Bakura would be back any minute, and life was good. Its too bad Bakura wasn't a little cuddlier. Movies were always a good place to cuddle. Picking up a kernel of popcorn she looked at it and then sighed as a slight wave of depression sank into her. Last time she was at the movies Joey had been throwing popcorn at her and Seto. 'I wonder what he's doing now?' She paused and then shook the idea out of her head. 'You're on a date with Bakura. I mean, I'm supposed to be on a date with Bakura, right?' Picking a few more pieces out of the bag and into her mouth Tea had her mind wander back again to the image of Kaiba. 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. I bet Seto's lonely.' She sighed again as the original purpose for taking Bakura instead of Seto came back. 'I just wish he could control his temper a little better. He always has to beat up on something, or someone.'  
  
Getting up she walked out of the dark room and waited outside of the restrooms for Bakura. It didn't take that long for him to come out, and when he saw her he opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off.  
  
"Bakura, I'm sorry. I don't think I really should've asked you here. Right now I sort of miss Seto, and I think I'd like to go see him, so if you don't mind I'd like to go."  
  
Blinking a couple of times he then crossed his arms and smiled. "Well that made my job a whole lot easier."  
  
"Wha?"  
  
Walking closer he slung his arm around her shoulder and ruffled her hair up playfully while leading them both to the door. "I was just going to tell you that it would be a much better idea if you went to see Kaiba. You never want to leave things broken."  
  
Tea cocked her head slightly and sighed as she leaned against him. "You're a good friend Bakura." 


	10. Thoughts

((I just want to say a thank you to Hushpuppy24 for some inspiration later in this chapter. It has to do with Mokuba, and it's sort of ish in your fic. You'll probably recognize it when you see it, but it's not Lucky Charms =P Anyway, Laterz! Keep reviewing everyone!))  
  
Kaiba sat in the tree close to the trunk. He'd been there for quite some time now, maybe an hour, maybe two. It didn't matter. Tea wasn't back yet. She still wasn't there. So far he hadn't seen any sign of her parents either. Some protection, did they really expect him to have given up that easily? Awe well, that didn't matter right now. He just needed to talk to Tea, tell her he was sorry, try and fix it. Maybe he did have a small issue with how he released his aggressions. He could change that. He would make sure he'd change that. Just as long as Tea forgave him.  
  
Five more minutes has passed. Still no sign of her. Had it really been that bad? Was she really that mad at him just over this little thing? Very possible, very likely, but somewhat unreasonable he might add. Then again, who was he to say what was unreasonable? She probably had her reasons for being out this late. No need to worry. She'll be fine. She'll come home and then he'd try paging her again from out here.  
  
Five more minutes. No Tea. No sign of her. She'd come, he knew she'd come eventually. He just hated having this feeling that she was upset at him continually clawing at his insides. So he'd messed up, everyone makes mistakes. Some are just a little worse than others. and he just made them a little worse, and a little more frequently. That was his fault. If he could've just managed to hold it in until he'd gotten home. But he had decided to stop and release it, instead of safely burying it in his work. Stupid work, stupid people. No, he couldn't start doing that again. He had to find a way to stop doing that. To stop blaming the world for everything and start blaming himself a little more.  
  
Five minutes later. Still sitting there. Still no Tea. Still mentally abusing himself for being such a jerk. He'd been stupid. It was stupid for him to do that. Stupid for him to just go beat up somebody. Had it really accomplished anything? No, it hadn't. He was still upset, and now Tea was mad at him. Stupid. Just stupid, he had just been being stupid. Why did he have to be such a moron? Why couldn't he have just kept it until he got home? He knew that would work. He was just stupid.  
  
A sound came. He made his eyes come back into focus and he saw Tea coming into her room with. Bakura. The smile that had come onto his face shattered at this. 'Bakura? Bakura?! What is she doing with Bakura?!' She gave him a hug and then said something, and then he left. 'Bakura?' Turning his head he stared at the ground. 'This is your fault. You shouldn't have ever done that. So she knew, she must have known. and now she must hate you.'  
  
Slowly climbing down the street he jumped off the last branch. 'Idiot. Stupid. Moronic fool buffoon Kaiba. Why do you have to be such an asshole?' Walking down the sidewalk to his car he shook his head and slammed the door to the drivers seat. Tapping at his wrist lightly before starting the vehicle he sighed. 'Now it's just Kaiba to fix himself. Okay, I can do that. I shouldn't have thought I could depend on Tea forever.' Driving down the street he headed towards his mansion. 'I'll check on Mokuba, maybe that will help.' A long silence in his head as he drove. 'No, I can't depend on Mokuba forever too. I have to deal with this by myself, but I'll still check on the kid. Then I'll go.'  
  
As he pulled into his driveway he got out and ran up to Mokuba's room. By this time the little one was already asleep, and so his older brother looked him over without touching him and then tucked the blankets in around him. 'He's fine. So I've established that. Everyone is fine.' Walking out of the room he stared at his wrist and tapped at it a couple of times. 'Everyone is just fine.'  
  
Out the door. Out of the house. Out of the way. Out of town. A get away, that's the specific place he needed to go. Some random place in the middle of nowhere. A place to gather his thoughts with nothing to worry about. He got out of his car eventually. He'd pulled off to the side of the road and then he started walking out into the woods next to it. 'This works. No one will be in the forest at ten o'clock at night.'  
  
Seto continued through the forest until he say the glint of moonlight on what was obviously a lake ahead. Breaking through the fringe he stood on the bank for a second before slumping down onto the ground, one leg extended before him, other raised against his chest as he played with a stick he'd pick up between his fingers. 'You are such and idiot Kaiba. First nobody likes you and you're happy. And then you have to go and try to be nice, and they still don't like you, and you get upset. After you try committing suicide a couple times then you and Tea start connecting a little. Next you get into a car crash after starting to slash your arms up, and she stays at your house for a month, and you really get close. Then she leaves, and you get mad at her. After all of this and back and forth getting mad and not then you finally get over it, make up with her friends, and then she has to go and get parents that decide she has to move because of me.'  
  
He flung the stick into the water and watched it create a small number of ripples. 'Then you try and cut more, but you can't. Finally giving in you go over to where you found Tea moved and find that SHE was cutting, while you couldn't. After THAT then you go and attack her, everything gets screwed at that point, and then you loose your mind.' A small hint of the images flickered through his mind but he shrugged it off and clutched at his wrist. 'Now you're just some paranoid freak who goes around checking whether people are dead or not, and you go beat up random people when you're upset about things that you've done in the past. Great, just great. You're doing so well Kaiba.' The sarcastic thoughts of his remarks filtered through his head and then the daydream he'd had the other day came back to him. 'I never call myself Seto in my head do I? It's always Kaiba. I wonder why. Maybe it's just because I'm insane. That would make sense.'  
  
He smirked slightly and picked up a larger branch which he started breaking into smaller ones as he stared out across the still surface of the lake. 'No. If you had really gone insane then you wouldn't be able to think like this. Your mind would not have the ability to be rational enough to know that you WERE insane.' He uncovered his wrist and stared at it for a brief moment and then closed his hand over it once more. 'So I'm paranoid. I think everyone could drop dead any moment. Then why if I know I'm paranoid can't I just stop it? . It's because you're stupid Kaiba.'  
  
Stopping for a moment he smirked again and sighed. 'And there I go again: "Kaiba". Tea probably talks to herself as Tea, and Joey as Joey, and Yugi as Yugi. I bet they never talk to Gardner, or Wheeler, or Motou. So why do I talk to Kaiba?'  
  
An image of his childhood self appeared next to him sitting there staring up at him. Turning his head Kaiba looked down at him. "Why don't I ever talk to you?"  
  
The little one shrugged and started picking up rocks and throwing them into the water.  
  
"Don't you ever get lonely?"  
  
Seto stopped throwing rocks and then taking his fingers he made a picture of a heart in the dirt and then wrote the word "Tea" inside it.  
  
"So you love Tea too.?"  
  
Seto smiled at Kaiba and nodded.  
  
"What about Mokuba?"  
  
Another nod and smile came from the little one.  
  
Kaiba stared back out at the water and sighed. "I bet you really wanted to go play with Yugi then. Didn't you?"  
  
Seto blinked at him a couple times and then slowly nodded. Then getting up he took off his shoes and rolled up his pants legs. With another little smile at Kaiba he walked into the water and started scanning along the edge.  
  
Looking over at Seto slightly puzzled Kaiba asked, "What are you doing?"  
  
Stopping for a second the little one mouthed the word "Frogs." And then went back to looking the water.  
  
Still confused Kaiba shook his head. "What is the point of that?"  
  
This received a shrug.  
  
"Then why are you doing it?"  
  
There was another mouthed word of "Fun."  
  
Kaiba still didn't understand exactly why his smaller self was trying to catch frogs. "Wouldn't it be more productive to go back and do work instead of wasting your time catching amphibians?"  
  
Seto squinched his eyes and stuck out his tongue as he shook his head.  
  
"So you really want to catch some slimy frog?"  
  
Smiling again the small one nodded and then diving into the water he slid through the mud and struggled with something in his hands.  
  
The splash reached Kaiba and he covered his head with his arm as the rest of him got splattered with Lake Water. Then he watched Seto coming back, covered in mud, holding a small green creature by the legs with a childish grin on his features.  
  
"Now you've managed to get both of us filthy. All for no real purpose."  
  
As if this hurt him slightly Seto pointed at the frog he was carefully holding as if that was the answer.  
  
Kaiba just shook his head. "There's no reason to catch frogs. It's not like it achieves any real goal, it's just stupid."  
  
Seto frowned at him and made Kaiba's hand go palm up. Then he dumped the frog into it and pointed at it.  
  
The older just stared at the creature which shortly after being placed in his palm jumped out and back into the water where it swam down into the depths.  
  
"There really was no point to that."  
  
His younger self just continued frowning and crossed his small arms.  
  
"What?"  
  
Still the same childish glare met him.  
  
Kaiba sighed and taking off his shoes, he rolled up his pants and waded into the water much like Seto had done earlier. "Fine. I'll get you another one." Staring at the dark pool he looked to see if he could find a small set of amphibian eyes breaking the surface. After wading for about two minutes with his childhood self still frowning at him on shore, he finally found one and snapped out his hand to grab it but it quickly dived under the water and got away. Sighing slightly Kaiba waded for a while longer and then finding another pair grabbed at it once more and managed to hold onto it as it squirmed. He cupped his other hand over it and traveled back to Seto on the shore.  
  
"There, happy?" He placed put it into the small one's hands and then slumped back down onto the ground.  
  
Seto smiled and then went and put the frog back in the water.  
  
"I just caught that. and then you go let it go."  
  
The child smiled and Kaiba shook his head.  
  
"That's really stupid."  
  
Seto glared at him again and smacked him on the head.  
  
Blinking a couple of times Kaiba looked down at him. "Why did you do that?"  
  
The word "meanie" was mouthed and the small one sat down on the ground as well and mimicked how Kaiba was sitting.  
  
The older version rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry." He noticed Seto copying him perfectly. "What are you doing that?" This was mimicked as well. "Look that's." He crossed his arms and tapped his finger. "Could you please stop that?"  
  
Breaking the copying for a second Seto shook his head and smiled as he was enjoying his new game.  
  
Kaiba looked away from him and pulled both legs into his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "If only."  
  
The child got up and kneeled down in front of his older self. Still smiling he plopped his head down on Kaiba's knees.  
  
"Just leave me alone."  
  
Still sitting there, Seto took his little finger and poked Kaiba in the middle of his forehead. Seeing his older not reacting at all he poked again. There was still nothing. Frowning slightly the smaller got up and grabbed a glob of mud. Then walking back he simply dumped it on top of Kaiba's head.  
  
Jumping backwards the executive tried to pull the mess from his hair. "What was that for?!"  
  
Seto just sat there grinning.  
  
Without really thinking about it Kaiba grabbed a chunk of dirt and chucked it across at his younger self. The little one just continued smiling as the dirt landed on him and then he grabbed another glob and threw it at Kaiba again. Sort of confused the older grabbed another chunk and tossed it, but it was just answered with another smile, and more dirt sailing back at him. "Why are you doing that?"  
  
Seto smiled and went over to Kaiba. He grabbed his hand and made him get up and dragged him into the shallows of the water.  
  
The older was confused. "What?" Then without warning he was shoved down into the slightly deeper water. Wiping the water out of his eyes he blinked a couple of times at the grinning form of his childhood self. "Why you little."  
  
Seto continued grinning and then jumped down into the water next to his older self, sending up another splash.  
  
They both sat there for a few moments, one smiling with pure joy, the other confused and slightly annoyed at becoming so wet and dirty for no reason at all.  
  
Finally getting up Kaiba tried to shake the water off himself as best he could. Then walking back onto the shore he rolled his pants down again and put his shoes back on. "There's no point to this. I'm going."  
  
Seto ran out of the lake with a spray of water behind him as he ran up and latched onto Kaiba's leg.  
  
"What?"  
  
The little one just continued grabbing onto his leg.  
  
"What is it kid? I really don't know what you want."  
  
Seto looked up at him with the biggest, wateriest, most pathetic eyes that were ever imaginable. Sticking his lip out he stared up at his older and hugged his leg again.  
  
"Do you want another frog or something?"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Seto stared up at him again and Kaiba got the impression of I-want-you-to- play-with-me in his head.  
  
Sighing the older walked back onto the bank and took a stick. Making a grid in the sand he put an X in the corner. "There, now you go."  
  
Grinning again the young one jumped down next to him and made an O in the center.  
  
Kaiba made another X and watched Seto make another O again. With a sigh he made another X. After a couple more turns it was a stalemate. The young one looked up at him again and he made another grid. "Now you go first."  
  
This went on for about seven more grids. Each one ending in a deadlock between the two. After all, they were the same person.  
  
Sighing the executive snapped his twig in half and threw it in the water. "There's no point to this."  
  
That's-the-point Seto smiled at him.  
  
"But then what is the purpose?"  
  
To-have-no-point. The young one gave a little giggle and got up. Brushing the dirt off of his small pants he jumped back in the water and rolled around in the shallows sending up mud and water as he went.  
  
Kaiba still sort of annoyed at getting filthy for no purpose grabbed the little one and dragged him out. "Stop that. It's stupid."  
  
Seto glared at him again and crossed his arms.  
  
Sighing the older looked at him. "What did I do now?"  
  
Seto smiled again and stared at him in a don't-tell-me-you-don't-want-to-do- that-too way.  
  
"But all it achieves is to get you muddy and wet."  
  
So?  
  
With that Seto pulled back inside his older self who got up. Brushing himself off as well he stared out at the moon glinting off the water. 'So? .So? Is that really the answer? But it has no logic to it. It has no point, no purpose, it's just "so".'  
  
He finally turned and started making his way back through the forest. 'The purpose is to have no point? That doesn't make any sense. It's just gibberish. How does he expect to hold up his arguments with little bits that make no sense at all and have to support to them? But it did make sense. He was certainly enjoying himself.'  
  
Sighing he opened his car door and started driving back home as the sun started rising off in the distance. 'He was doing things with absolutely no purpose to them, but he was happy anyway. What was the purpose of that?' He shook his head. 'I don't get it. They were just games. Childish games that don't achieve anything and have no point but are supposed to please people anyway. Those were fun, they used to be. But there's no point to them. How on earth can someone enjoy doing something that is just a waste of time?'  
  
At this point he had reached his house and was walking up the stairs on the way to his room to change into some dry clothes. 'Why would anybody do something that is pointless, senseless, with absolutely no reason to? I mean, who would want to waste their time doing something that stupid?'  
  
***************  
  
Mokuba stretched as he sat up in his bed and looked at the clock beside his bed. 9:04. 'Saturdays rule!' With a happy sigh he fell back onto his bed with a sigh and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before he jumped up and got dressed.  
  
With a smile plastered on his face he ran downstairs and grabbed a bowl of cereal. Munching away cheerfully he looked down at it. 'Crunchatize me Cap'n!' With a little giggle he took the last couple of bites and put away the Captain Crunch. Running over he jumped over the back of the couch and clicked on the TV to watch that morning's cartoons.  
  
After a couple of episodes of watching the characters running around in their various cartoony ways, he turned it off and looked at the clock again. 10:59. He ran upstairs again and was about to head into his room to grab something when he heard some cursing coming out of the office at the end of the hall.  
  
Walking over he opened the door slightly and peered in to see Seto sitting at his computer hitting the keys as his eyes locked onto the screen.  
  
Coming further into the room Mokuba walked up behind his brother and stared at the screen as well. 'Pinball? He's playing pinball?'  
  
"Seto?"  
  
Just then the executive jerked back from the keyboard and let the silver ball on the monitor fall between the flippers as he stared at his little brother. "What?"  
  
Mokuba pointed at where the game used to be. "Were you just playing pinball?"  
  
The older Kaiba turned back and opened up a screen of solitaire instead as he had a list of other sorts of activities minimized at the bottom. "Yeah. I thought I'd try it."  
  
At this point Mokuba was confused. ".Why?"  
  
"Because it's better than catching frogs."  
  
He raised an eyebrow even more lost. "Huh?"  
  
"Nevermind." Seto then closed that window too and went through the rest of them and closed them. 'I still don't get the purpose. They're just stupid games and they don't accomplish anything whatsoever.' Standing up he pulled the hat that Mokuba had insisted on wearing ever since his hair cut, over his brother's eyes. "I'm going to out. Later." With that he left.  
  
Pulling the purple cotton hat back into place he stared after his older brother. "Um. okay." He was still confused. 'Since when did he decide to try computer games?' 


	11. Seto and Kaiba

The night before Tea hadn't bothered looking at the flowers. Bakura had helped her to be on her way to forgiving Kaiba. but she still wasn't quite sure if she wanted to confront him about it yet.  
  
This morning she had gotten up and had breakfast after getting dressed. After that she had taken her mom's car over to Yugi's house. Walking in the front door she walked behind the counter of the shop into where the actual living space was. She stepped into the living room and saw Yugi watching television and then she sat down next to him on the couch.  
  
"So what's up?"  
  
"Not much." He didn't look away but kept watching his show. "You know I tried paging you. You never called me back."  
  
Tea looked at the ceiling for a second. "Oh yeah. What did I do with that thing anyway?" Reaching into her coat pocket she pulled it out and checked through the messages. Mom, Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba. 'Sheesh, how many times did he call?' Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba, Yugi, Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba, Joey, Yugi, Kaiba, Kaiba, Tristan, Kaiba, Kaiba, and that was it. "I forgot this at home yesterday."  
  
Turning off the screen he looked over at her with a smile. "Where'd you go?"  
  
"Just to the movies with Bakura."  
  
Yugi looked worried. "Why with Bakura?"  
  
"I was mad at Seto."  
  
"For punching Joey? But that's not that bad."  
  
She shook her head. "No. It's not that. He just went and beat up Bakura after he left. It's not big deal."  
  
"Why'd he do that?"  
  
"You think I know?"  
  
"Kind of."  
  
"Well I don't."  
  
"Okay." He shrugged. "So did you have fun?"  
  
She gazed down at the floor. "Not really. I started feeling guilty halfway through. Then we went and got some ice cream, and then he took me home." The flowers she'd left on her desk resurfaced in her mind. "Oh, and I'm not mad at Seto anymore, me and Bakura talked a while. I really should have put those in a vase."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He got me some flowers."  
  
"Bakura?"  
  
"No, Seto. He left them on my desk."  
  
"You wanna give him a call?"  
  
She shrugged. "Sure." Getting up she walked over to Yugi's phone and picked it up. Dialing in the home phone she waited for an answer.  
  
"Hello? Who is it please?"  
  
"Hey Mokuba, is your brother there?"  
  
"Not right now. He went into town."  
  
"Do you know especially where to?"  
  
"No." There was a pause. "You could try the arcade."  
  
"Um. Why?"  
  
"Dunno, but you could try it anyway."  
  
"Yeah, okay Mokuba. Thanks anyway."  
  
"I think he really might be there."  
  
"Okay, thanks. Bye."  
  
She hung up the phone and stared over at Yugi on the couch. "Do you wanna go and see if we can find Seto?"  
  
"Sure, why not?"  
  
Tea shook her head and giggled at how stupid this sounded. "Why don't we try the arcade? Mokuba said he might be there. for some odd reason."  
  
*****************  
  
Kaiba put in his fifty cents and started pushing the buttons. 'Stupid.' Going to the next machine he put in more change. 'Stupid.' Going to yet another machine he put the money in again. 'Stupid. Why are all these things just so stupid?' He didn't leave this machine but just kept blindly playing. Despite the fact that he hadn't played many video games or anything of that sort, he wasn't that bad at them. 'There's no point. I shoot the other people, but more just come. What does that achieve? It's just stupid.'  
  
Inside Kaiba's head he could see his younger self immensely enjoying the games. 'Why do you like these?' The only answer to his question was a shrug and then more button pushing.  
  
Walking away from the game he went to yet another one and put in more quarters. 'This one's stupid too. They're all just so stupid. Only idiots would even bother spending their time to create the programs for these games. I could make ones much better than this with my eyes closed.' He stopped for a moment and checked himself. 'Not that I'd want to. They're all just stupid games.'  
  
******************  
  
Yugi had attached himself and was staring in the window wide-eyed. "Kaiba? That can't be Kaiba! Kaiba's in there? Why is Kaiba in there? It's just wrong! Why is he in there? What is he doing? .. Kaiba?"  
  
Tea was also staring in at the figure that was going from system to system. She wasn't babbling on like Yugi, but she was just standing there frozen in shock. 'Mokuba was serious. Wow!'  
  
******************  
  
"Grrrr." Kaiba was getting fed up. He must have tried EVERY game in this whole building, and they were all just stupid. Inwardly he may have admitted that some of them were kind of fun. No, no, that's ludicrous! Who on earth could have fun playing these idiotic wastes of time?  
  
He left the last game still running as he walked out of the place. When he pushed open the door he noticed two sets of eyes that had followed his progress on the way out. His eyes grew in surprise for a brief moment and then he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over to them, back in his normal Kaiba mode.  
  
"What are you two watching me for?"  
  
Yugi flipped his head backed and forth from the arcade to Kaiba. "You were in there, and you were playing those things. Why were you playing them? Are you okay?"  
  
He smirked. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I'd try them. There wasn't any purpose to it. They were all just stupid anyway."  
  
Tea looked over him curiously. "Why?"  
  
He started walking past them. "It's fine. I won't do it again. They were too stupid to try again." He shook his head and glanced back at them. "Kaiba won't try it again. Seto's had enough fun to last him eight more years."  
  
******************  
  
"Did he just start talking about himself in the third person?" Yugi looked up at Tea.  
  
"Um. Yeah."  
  
"That was weird."  
  
"Um. Yeah."  
  
"Wanna go bug Joey?"  
  
"Sure." She shrugged and started walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction Seto had just gone. 'I hope he's not going through something. Oh, I forgot to talk to him about the other day. Awe well, I'll do that when we get to Joey's'  
  
*******************  
  
Joey heard the doorbell and came running down the stairs coming his wet hair. 'Sheesh, Why is it every time I take a shower people decide to come over just then?' Unlocking the bolt he pulled the door open as he chucked the comb to the side. "Oh, hey guys!"  
  
They both walked in and he smiled. "What's up?"  
  
"Can I use your phone?"  
  
"Um, sure Tea. So what's up with you Yug?"  
  
"Not much. But, oh, guess who we just saw at the arcade."  
  
*******************  
  
Tristan was walking down the street. 'Man I'm bored.' He was idly kicking a rock in front of him and watching it roll out in front of him. 'There's nothing to do today.' Without really thinking he bumped into somebody. Snapping his head up he apologized. "Sorry guy, didn't see you there. Hey Kaiba."  
  
"What." He stared over at him with a blank expression.  
  
"Um, just hey."  
  
"Fine. Then I have to go."  
  
"You okay dude?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
With that one word he left Tristan and continued on his way down the street. 'What's up with him?' Tristan just shrugged it off and was going to go back to kicking his rock but. 'Hey! Where'd it go?' Looking further away from him he saw some other kid kicking it. 'Well, there goes my rock.'  
  
********************  
  
"Woo-hoo! Street Fighter!" Tristan pulled the new game out of the bag and set to ripping apart the box in his room. He'd gotten even more bored after his rock was stolen, and then he went and bought this. He put the card into the slot and picked up the control as he went through all the formalities with the start menu and picking the character.  
  
"Die!" Thoroughly enjoying himself he started beating the crap out of the computer player. "Feel my wrath!" He grinned and continued clicking the buttons in his crazed video game obsessed fashion.  
  
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.  
  
"Leave me alone. I'm playing."  
  
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.  
  
"Shut up you damn phone!"  
  
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.  
  
"Fine! I'm coming already!" Pausing the game he ran over and picked it off the hook. "What?!"  
  
He heard hysterical laughter coming off of the other end. "Tristan, dude! You'll never guess what Yugi just told me!"  
  
"You're right, so what is it?"  
  
"Kaiba!" More hysterical laughter. "Was at the ARCADE!"  
  
"You're kidding."  
  
"No! I'm dead serious dude!"  
  
"Really?" Tristan sat down on his bed with a confused expression. "What was he doing there?"  
  
"No idea, but it's still funny as heck. I mean, can you imagine mister big and stuffy playing Space Invaders or something?"  
  
At this Tristan started laughing. "Or what about Mario? He could go around riding on Yoshi and eating all the little red fruits!"  
  
Both of them began cracking their heads off.  
  
"And squishing all the turtles!"  
  
"And flying with the cape!"  
  
"And shrinking all small when he gets hit so that he's the little tiny Mario that looks like a baby!"  
  
Again they clutched at their sides in laughter on either end of the phone.  
  
Tristan sat up gasping for air and rubbing the tears from the sides of his eyes. "Whew! Well anyway, what are you up to?"  
  
"Tea and Yugi popped over so-"  
  
"And you didn't invite me?"  
  
"That's what I called for. and to tell you 'bout Kaiba."  
  
Tristan started laughing again. "Ok, I'll be right over."  
  
He then hung up the phone and turned off his game as he grabbed his coat and ran down the stairs. 'Kaiba in the arcade? That's just too funny.'  
  
*******************  
  
'Stupid, stupid, they were all just so stupid. Who could enjoy all those stupid games? The programs were so simple. Who would even bother playing anything with such bad graphics. I could fix those-' He cut himself off again. 'Not that I'd want to. They're just stupid games. There's no point to them.' He found himself sitting on a park bench and staring out at the kids playing baseball in the field. 'They're all just stupid games.'  
  
Ringalingalingalingalingalingaling!  
  
He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Hello."  
  
"Seto! Hi!"  
  
"I'm sorry. Seto's not here right now. You'll have to talk to Kaiba."  
  
"Um. okay then. I called to say thanks for the flowers. And that I-"  
  
"So how's Bakura?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Don't you though?"  
  
"Um, I talked to him yesterday but."  
  
"Then you would know how he is."  
  
"Well, we just talked. Were you like spying on me or something?"  
  
"I was over to apologize, but I guess it's a little too late for that." His expression had stayed blank through all of this. "I'm sorry you had to have anything to do with me. Seto has resolved his issues though. Kaiba had a talk with him. They both agreed that it would be best if Seto went back inside for another few years before he's allowed out again."  
  
The reply was sort of uneasy. "Why are you talking like that?"  
  
"I'm not talking any abnormal way. I'm just telling you that Seto is back where he belongs. I guess he was getting a little lost. Children should never be let out without supervision. Now Kaiba has fixed it. We're okay now. You don't have to have pity on us anymore."  
  
"I thought we'd already resolved that. I don't have pity on you."  
  
"No. You have pity for Seto, and like I said, he's no longer here. Kaiba is back to normal, and I don't think you would like him. He talks to himself too much, and he beats random people up. Even though he won't do that anymore because they're all too stupid anyway. But besides, Kaiba has been getting behind on his work, and he really should find someone to take care of Mokuba since he won't have time for him. So if you'll excuse me, Kaiba has to go find some person to be his bodyguard before Seto decides it's his turn again."  
  
"But I thought-"  
  
"I do apologize, but Kaiba is going to be busy. He needs to take care of this. So he's going to go now and do that. Can't have Seto coming out again. Children need their supervision, and Seto is too stupid to know right from wrong. Oh, but he would like to say that he's sorry and he loves you very much."  
  
With that he hung up the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. 'Now I have to go do that. I don't know why I never thought of it before. Mokuba will be fine once he has somebody else to look after him, and maybe then he won't be so worried about me. He didn't need to bother with me anyway. Seto's his older brother, not Kaiba. Kaiba doesn't care. Only Seto cares, and he's just a lost little boy.' 


	12. The Company

((Sorry about the delay on the updating peeps. The wonderful world of vacation was calling my name and I couldn't write at ALL! =( but now it's all better ^_^ and the writing shall commence once more.. And, like I've said before, and I'm only saying again because people keep doing it is: DON'T FLAME ME!!! -.- to all of you evil flamers who can't get it through you're heads, just don't do it and keep your opinions too yourself. To say the classic line "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." ...... I'm done with that now ^_^ so all of you nice people keep reviewing and the chapters shall keep springing forth onto this lovely page. Later!))  
  
Tea hung up the phone slowly and walked back into Joey's living room. Tristan had come over by this time and all the guys were sitting on or around the couch chatting and having a good time.  
  
Yugi looked up and saw Tea's distressed expression. "What's wrong?"  
  
She sat down on the floor and looked sideways at the floor. "Seto's talking about himself in the third person again."  
  
He shrugged. "Maybe he's just going through something right now."  
  
Tea shook her head. "But then why would he be talking about Seto and Kaiba being separate people? And he said that he has to go find somebody to take care of Mokuba since he won't have any time for him anymore. I'm worried."  
  
Joey got up and crouched next to her. "Hey, Kaiba does this. Maybe he's just thinking too much. Or maybe the arcade games went to his head." He smiled at this. "It'll all be cool. Me and Trist, can go over and check on him later for ya if that's what ya want?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Sure, okay then." He looked over at Tristan on the couch. "Hey, why don't we go over there tomorrow afternoon?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
The blonde looked back at Tea. "See? It's all cool. Don't worry 'bout it." He ruffled her hair and smiled reassuringly. "We gotcha covered."  
  
She flickered a half smirk. "Yeah. okay."  
  
****************  
  
Mokuba stared at the tall dark man who was standing next to him and then at Seto with despair. "What's this about big brother?"  
  
Kaiba stood there with folded arms. "He's going to be taking care of you now. I have to work and I won't have time. So he's just there to make sure you'll be alright."  
  
Tears started welling up in the bottom of Mokuba's eyes. "But I want YOU to take care of me."  
  
He shook his head and started on his way to the stairs. "Kaiba doesn't have time. Seto apologizes. You'll be fine."  
  
"B-but brother-"  
  
  
  
"Seto won't be able to take care of you. Kaiba has work to do." He then disappeared up the stairs and slammed the door to his office.  
  
Inside he was in shreds. 'Mokuba. I'm so sorry I had to do that to you. But Kaiba has to work. That's what he was made for. To take care of the company and he's wasted time by playing those games and trusting people. He wasn't trained for that, he was trained to work, and that's what he has to do.'  
  
He sat down at his computer and started typing as he saw his younger self pull out and sit on the couch pouting.  
  
"I thought I told you to stay inside."  
  
Seto glared at him.  
  
"I don't have time for this."  
  
Why'd-you-do-that-to-him?  
  
"Look, I let you play. Now go away. I have work to do."  
  
Big-mean-man. More glaring was sent at Kaiba.  
  
"Seto. I don't have time for him anymore. You're his older brother, not me. You take care of him."  
  
Getting up off the couch little Seto walked over and bit Kaiba's arm.  
  
"Ow!" Kaiba jumped up and raised his fist. "You stupid little-" He froze and looked from his fist to the now cowering one underneath him. "Sorry kid." He sat down once more and started typing again.  
  
Uncurling himself Seto stood up and went back to glaring at Kaiba.  
  
"I told you, I don't have time for him."  
  
You're-just-being-stupid.  
  
"I'm not the stupid one. You are. You're the one who gets tied up in silly emotions."  
  
Walking back over to the couch Seto slumped down on it and continued glaring. I-wanna-go-play-with-Mokuba.  
  
"Well you can't."  
  
But-he's-our-brother!  
  
"Your brother."  
  
You're-just-as-bad-as-Him-you-meanie.  
  
"I'm supposed to be like him. That was the point, I had to be like him so I could take over the company successfully."  
  
Stupid-mean-person. Why-can't-you-let-me-go-play?  
  
"I let you play. So shut up. I have to work."  
  
YOU-weren't-playing.  
  
"What purpose do I have to play? They're all just stupid games."  
  
You're-stupid.  
  
"I'm not the stupid one. The stupid people are the ones who don't know when it's in their best interest to be quiet." He sent a hard gaze over at his little self who was glaring back at him.  
  
The-stupid-people-are-the-mean-ones-who-don't-let-me-play.  
  
"I let you play!"  
  
No-you-didn't.  
  
"Then what was that whole time in the arcade?"  
  
That-was-you-telling-me-I-was-stupid.  
  
By this time Kaiba was getting really annoyed with the small figure sitting on the couch. "Shut up you little runt. I'm doing my work. I'm doing what people made me do. So just shut up!"  
  
You-used-to-want-to-play.  
  
"Well not anymore!"  
  
This was met with the same pouty glare from the couch. You're-just-a-big- mean-man-who-won't-let-me-have-any-fun.  
  
"Fine. I am. Now Leave. Me. Alone!" He started typing more and tried to ignore the small one sitting on the couch staring over at him. They both sat there in silence for a couple minutes until.  
  
"Will you stop that already?"  
  
You-made-Mokuba-cry.  
  
"No I didn't!"  
  
Meanie.  
  
"Stop doing that!"  
  
But-you-are. meanie.  
  
Kaiba glared daggers at him. "Do you want me to start doing that Thing to you?" He got up and stood in front of Seto. "Do you really want me to do that? You know computer programs is not the only thing I learned from Gozaburo."  
  
Seto stared up at him defiantly. You've-given-up. You've-abandoned-Mokuba- and-now-you're-abandoning-me!  
  
"I'm not abandoning anyone!"  
  
You-abandoned-Tea.  
  
"I was protecting her."  
  
From-what? From-loving-you? Well,-that-made-a-lot-of-sense.  
  
"If I kept her involved she would have just gotten hurt. I don't have time for silly emotions."  
  
Just-the-fact-that-you-wanted-to-protect-her-was-an-emotion.  
  
"Well that's the last one."  
  
You-know-it-isn't.  
  
"It IS the last one."  
  
Then-why-do-you-feel-guilty-about-Mokuba?  
  
"I don't feel guilty!"  
  
Yes-you-do.  
  
"You stupid little kid. I don't!"  
  
Seto was silent and glared at him.  
  
Kaiba glared back. "I don't feel guilty."  
  
More silence and glaring.  
  
"I don't!"  
  
Still nothing.  
  
"Stop it!" He struck the back of his hand across Seto's cheek.  
  
As soon as his hand made contact he felt a burning sensation on his own face. "You stupid kid!" He started punching Seto more who sat there under the abuse as Kaiba felt each blow on himself as well. After a minute he fell back onto the ground and glared back at Seto who was sitting on the couch bruised and battered but still glaring back at him defiantly.  
  
The little one stood up and walked over to Kaiba where he sat down next to him with a small tear trickling down his cheek. Are-you-okay?  
  
"I just beat you, and now you're asking if I'm okay?"  
  
I'm-worried.  
  
Kaiba got up and staggered back over to the computer where he started blindly typing again. "I'm fine. Go away. Leave me alone. I'm not supposed to have feelings. I'm not supposed to care for anyone. So stop telling me I am."  
  
I'm-going-to-call-Tea.  
  
"Fine. I'm not stopping you."  
  
Seto walked over and grabbed the phone out of Kaiba's pocket. He opened it and then held it up to him. You-have-to.  
  
"I'm not going to."  
  
The smaller started glaring at him again. Call-her!  
  
"Alright! Fine." He snatched the phone out of his hand and dialed her pager number. After he knew it had worked he hung it up. "Now she'll call back. Okay? So leave me alone."  
  
A few moments later his phone started ringing and he picked it up.  
  
"Hey Tea."  
  
Seto smiled and listened along with his older self.  
  
"Hi Seto, you called?"  
  
"Kaiba called, Seto wanted me to."  
  
"Um. okay."  
  
Stop-with-the-third-person. She's-going-to-think-we-have-problems.  
  
Kaiba put his hand over the mouthpiece. "Well how am I supposed to talk about us? We aren't the same person."  
  
Yes-we-are.  
  
"No, we aren't."  
  
"Seto? Who are you talking to?"  
  
He took his hand off. "I'm talking to Seto. Give me a second." Putting his hand back on he stared down at the younger.  
  
Seto crossed his arms. We-are-the-same-person. You-just-won't-admit-it.  
  
"Fine, fine. I'll stop talking about it that way for now. Even if that is how it works."  
  
It-doesn't-work-that-way.  
  
"Whatever." He took his hand off again. "Hi Tea."  
  
"Why did you call?"  
  
"Set- Um, I just wanted to talk to you."  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah. I'm fine."  
  
"Do you want me to come over?"  
  
Kaiba looked down again and saw Seto shake his head. Why-don't-you-go-hang- out-with-her-and-Yugi-and-everyone?  
  
"No, that's okay. Where are you right now?"  
  
"Joey's, we were just going to go to the park though."  
  
"I'll meet you there then."  
  
Tea's voice seemed to perk up a little. "Okay. We'll see you there."  
  
Kaiba hung up the phone. "Happy?"  
  
Yes.  
  
"I hope so." He shoved the phone back in his pocket and saw Seto pulled back inside as he headed downstairs. There were little sobbing noises coming out of Mokuba's room, but he ignored them. There was no point in worrying about anybody. There was no point in emotions.  
  
*******************  
  
Tea was sitting on the grass next to the basketball court as she waited for Seto to come. 'I hope he's okay. At least he called, and he said he's coming. So as long as he's coming we have nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine.'  
  
"Whoosh!" Joey watched the ball go through the net and smiled at Tristan. "Two points for me, none for you. So HA!"  
  
Yugi looked at the little piece of paper in his hand. "So now Joey's score is 1 game, and Tristan's is. 43."  
  
Tristan then grinned over at Joey. "Awe, whoosh. Looks like I win by a landslide."  
  
The blonde grumbled and started dribbling the ball idly. "Yeah, whatever."  
  
Just then he noticed a figure walking towards them. "Hey Kaiba. Glad you could join us dude." Taking the ball in his hands he tossed it in the executive's direction.  
  
Kaiba just sidestepped it and let the ball bounce past him as he walked up. "Joey, Tristan, Yugi, Tea. Hello." He nodded at all of them with a blank expression on his face. "I see you have been enjoying yourselves completing meaningless tasks of throwing a ball into a net with a hole in it. Not very smart if you ask me. The ball just comes out again and you have to do the same thing over and over again without getting anywhere. It really has to point."  
  
Yugi had just run off and was now returning with the ball. "It's just basketball Kaiba. You're supposed to get the ball through the hoop."  
  
He continued tonelessly. "It still has no purpose. It's stupid. Why would you bother wasting your time doing something so idiotic?"  
  
Joey shrugged. "Cause it's fun."  
  
"Well it's pointless."  
  
Tea got up and walked over to the small group. "Are you okay Seto?"  
  
He turned to face he blankly. "Seto's not-" He stopped a second and he stared at the ground and then looked back up. "I'm perfectly fine Tea. Mokuba now has a new bodyguard so I don't have to waste my time with that anymore. I came to tell you all that I most likely will not be wasting any more time around you. There is no point to it, and I could be using those sessions to further advance the company."  
  
Yugi stared at him. "What do you mean by wasting your time with Mokuba? He's your brother."  
  
"There is no point to it. Family only slows progress, they are mere distractions."  
  
"You can't really mean that." Joey's face was puzzled. "I mean, he's your little bro, he's not a waste of time."  
  
"You would be wrong Joey. If he wants to spend time with me then he'll have to plan a meeting. As will you all. So now if you'll excuse me. I have to go now." He turned to leave and started walking away but Tea grabbed onto his arm and he stared blankly at her. "Let go of my arm."  
  
"Why are you being so weird?" She gazed up at him eyes soft with pain.  
  
"I am merely doing what I was trained to do." He pried her fingers off himself and then started walking away as tears started flowing down her face behind him.  
  
"S-Seto?"  
  
He turned around for a brief moment. "I'm afraid if any further discussion is to take place you'll have to contact my secretary or possibly plan a lunch period. But any talk here will merely be a waste."  
  
Tea broke into more tears and Joey kneeled down beside her and patted her back. He then shot his eyes at Kaiba. "How can you be so cold man?"  
  
"It's not cold, it's business." Without another word Kaiba turned his back and walked away from them.  
  
Turning his gaze back to Tea, Joey continued comforting her. "It's okay girl. Don't worry about it. It's okay."  
  
"B-but he was being so mean."  
  
He smirked a little. "Hey, it's just a little thing. We're still here for ya. Don't get hung up on it." Joey patted her back some more. "It's cool girl. How 'bout we go get a hot dog? They're always good. Come on." He started leading her towards the hot dog stand and looked back over his shoulder at Yugi and Tristan in an I-got-this-covered way.  
  
Leaving Tea a couple of feet from the stand he bought a hot dog and took a pile of napkins before heading back to her. Handing her the food he gave a little smile again and dabbed at her eyes with one of the napkins. "Don't worry about it. We gotcha covered." They both walked over and sat on one of the benches as Tea dejectedly ate the hot dog as she continued crying. Joey, trying his best, gave her a couple more napkins to blow her nose with. "Would you like me to go beat him up for ya?"  
  
She just shook her head and continued sobbing.  
  
He sighed and put his arm around her shoulder. "Hey, this is just a bumpy patch. Forget about it. It'll all turn out for the best."  
  
********************  
  
Kaiba made his way back to his office. Mokuba was still crying in his room. 'Fools. They're all getting tied up in emotions when there is no reason to.' He sat down at his desk and started typing. 'This is the only thing that matters. They are just being idiots. Well then let them be. It doesn't matter to me.' 


	13. More News

Okay, he was pissed. Joey was extremely pissed. Tea was crushed. Utterly, completely, entirely crushed to like one inch flat. 'That Kaiba freak is going down. What's his deal?! He comes in and is like; I don't care, you're all stupid freaks who should die and it doesn't matter to me. Well if he's going to act like that, then I'll just smack a little sense back into him.' He clenched his fists and continued walking down the street towards the mansion. 'Nobody does that to Tea and gets away with it. Nobody! And especially not that freakazoid who she went through all that trouble for. She did all that and then he just goes and dumps her for no god damn reason?! The nerve of that guy!'  
  
Joey didn't bother knocking on the door. He didn't bother ringing the doorbell. He didn't bother stopping to see where Mokuba was to ask him questions. He just went. Straight up the stairs, through the door, right to Kaiba. That shit faced asshole Kaiba.  
  
"Hey Kaiba!"  
  
The executive didn't look up from the screen. "You don't have a meeting. I'll have to call the guards if you don't leave in the next ten seconds."  
  
Joey stomped further into the room and yanked Kaiba out of his chair by the shirt collar. "If you even TRY calling those guards. You're taking a one way trip out your window!"  
  
Kaiba smirked at him. "I'm afraid you are mistaken. You would be the one who would suffer the consequences."  
  
"Well then my corpse will get your fat ass into a jail cell for the rest of your fuckin' life!"  
  
Kaiba removed Joey fingers from his shirt and sat back down. "Oh contraire, I think I'd stay right here. You were the one who attacked me after all, on top of breaking and entering. It's called justifiable homicide Joseph." He locked his icy blue orbs onto Joey with a smug expression.  
  
"Justifiable homicide my ass!" He swung his fist at Kaiba's head but found that the CEO just put up his hand and stopped it. He just stopped it in mid- strike.  
  
"A little hostile today, aren't we?" There was a slight tone of mocking in his voice.  
  
"You're damn right I'm hostile! Now get up and go apologize to Tea!"  
  
"Hm, let me think about that." He sat in silence for a moment and then; "No."  
  
"You dirty, filthy, bast-"  
  
"Do not speak ill of your betters Joseph." The tone was blank and expressionless, but like a parent's reproving a child.  
  
"I'll insult you if I want! You aren't better than me!"  
  
"Oh yes I am. You know I am. Now go be a good little boy and go home. This is no place for you."  
  
Joey glared at him and raised his fist again.  
  
"Don't even think about it."  
  
"You can't stop me!"  
  
Kaiba stood up calmly and sent an icy chill down Joey's spine. "Do you think you can win?"  
  
"Yeah! You're nothing but a creep! Ya big jerk!"  
  
The CEO began chuckling dryly and then started pacing circles around the blonde. "Oh poor little Joseph. You really are in over your head now, aren't you? You think you're doing the right thing here. Coming all this way to defend your little friend. But they don't care about you. They could care less about a pathetic little grub like you. So what are you really defending? You're friends? Or is it just some little fantasy of yours to be able to defend someone who is defenseless without you? Well. Let me tell you. They all would be much better off without you. They're all just little pawns. Little teeny pawns that have no purpose, no feeling. You're a pawn too you know. And you all are just manipulated by the ones stronger than you, smarter than you. So what are you really achieving by coming all the way here? You're just fooling yourself into thinking that you're something special. Well you know? You're just a pathetic slug. A grimy little worm with no friends, and no one that cares for you. You're all alone and if you die, no one will notice, nobody at all."  
  
"Shut up!" However strong Joey may have been feeling, Kaiba was wheedling his way slowly into his head.  
  
"You don't believe me? Well then fine. Try and attack me. It won't do anything. Since you are the weaker, the underling, the one who was put there to obey me. So just try it. You're friends aren't going to come and help you. You're just all alone, all by yourself in this little world that you imagine. The pieces will fit eventually, and then you will understand. But until then you are just going to be lost, continuing on with your delusional fantasies, as a lost little boy who doesn't know the way home. So go ahead. Try it. Try to beat me."  
  
By now Joey had been thoroughly cowed. The icy glare was eating away at him, and Kaiba had kept pacing circles around him and he hadn't even blinked. His expression had remained menacing, motionless, mocking. Joey couldn't fight that. He couldn't beat someone who didn't feel. "I-I'm sorry."  
  
A smirk crawled onto Kaiba's face. "Good boy. Now go home and return to your little world before I change my mind and decide to have you locked up." Swiftly turning he sat down at his computer. "You are dismissed."  
  
Joey slowly crept backwards out of the room stuttering. "I-I'm sorry for d- disturbing you." He left the office and walked down the stairs and headed to the game shop, feeling every inch the worm that Kaiba had called him.  
  
*********************  
  
He shut the door behind him and headed towards the living room where he heard the voices of his friends. 'I'm not that pathetic am I? I wasn't being that stupid.'  
  
With his head hung he trudged over to the couch and fell down on it as three pairs of eyes looked over him.  
  
"Hey Joey, was there a bug in your soda or something? You look like the world has ended." Tristan walked over and stared at him.  
  
'I'm not a little worm.'  
  
"Hello? Earth to Joey?" Tristan waved his hand in front of Joey's face. "Anybody home?"  
  
Snapping out of thought the blonde blinked a couple of times and then gazed at Tristan. "Oh sorry. What?"  
  
"Man. What happened to you?"  
  
Yugi then walked over to him and sat down. "Yeah, are you okay?"  
  
Joey shook his head and rested his chin on his palms. "That Kaiba dude really knows how to make a guy feel low."  
  
Tristan smiled. "Oh is that all? I thought we had something to worry about."  
  
The blonde sent a death glare at his friend. "Shut up."  
  
"Why? Kaiba's insulted you before? It's not like it's true or anything."  
  
Joey shrugged and sighed. "Yeah. I guess you're right."  
  
Tea was watching them with the tears from earlier starting to resurface in her eyes. Wiping them off on her sleeve she went over to Joey and put on the best smile she could. "Why don't we just forget it and go do something. It's not like it matters anyway."  
  
Yugi nodded and smiled as well. "Yeah. See Joey? It doesn't matter."  
  
He got up with a half smirk. "Sure Yug." 'I guess it was just stupid. but man, Kaiba really can get into your head.'  
  
*******************  
  
Seto pulled out of Kaiba again and glared at him. That-was-mean.  
  
"No it wasn't."  
  
You're-being-mean.  
  
"Shut up kid."  
  
There was a defiant glare that met him. You-know-what? You've-just-given- up. That's-you're-problem. You've-given-up-on-the-world.  
  
"The world has given up on me."  
  
Seto continued glaring at him.  
  
"Stop doing that."  
  
You-know-you-still-have-a-heart. You're-just-ignoring-it.  
  
"No."  
  
Just-you-denying-it-proves-me-true.  
  
Kaiba growled in slight frustration. He didn't know why he had let himself change to drastically. He was letting himself drift in the direction that he had been fighting for so long. He had sworn that he would never end up like Gozaburo. But what had he just done? He had just used the same methods of cowering upon Joey that his adopted father had done to him.  
  
See?-You-don't-want-to-be-like-this.  
  
With a sigh he started typing again. "What choice do I have."  
  
You-could-start-by-fighting-again.  
  
"It didn't work then. It's not going to work now."  
  
Do-you-really-want-Mokuba-to-end-up-like-you? He-will-if-you-keep-this-up.  
  
"Shut up. What do you know."  
  
Fine.-Don't-listen-to-me.-But-you-know-what-you're-doing-is-wrong.-Mom- would-be-disappointed.  
  
Seto disappeared back to the inside of Kaiba who sat there blinking at the last sentence that was sent to him. 'Mom?'  
  
A small image flickered through his head of his mother's smiling face. 'M- mom?'  
  
It disappeared again and then he let his head fall forward onto the keyboard. 'What am I doing?'  
  
With a sigh he then got up and walked out of his room. He was about to head downstairs when he heard the sobbing coming out of Mokuba's room. He sighed again and opened the door a fraction to see his little brother lying on the bed in tears. 'And now to try and pick up the pieces.'  
  
"Mokuba?"  
  
His little brother immediately sat up on the bed and tried to wipe his eyes. "I'm sorry. I wasn't crying."  
  
Kaiba walked over and sat next to him. "No, it's okay. If you need to cry you can."  
  
Mokuba's eyes started to water again. "Do you really not want to take care of me anymore?"  
  
The older looked uneasily at the floor. "I, don't, Think, so."  
  
"B-but."  
  
He put his arm around the little one. "Hey, it's okay. I won't let anything bad happen to you. I just-.need a bit. To get my head together."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
He sighed again and nodded slowly. "Yeah. I think so. Now, I'm going to go and try to fix some other things. I've done some pretty rotten stuff today. I have to correct that. And don't worry. I'll get rid of that guy." Getting up he ran downstairs and opened up his phone. The bodyguard was really supposed to start tomorrow, so he had gone home. Kaiba called him and told him that he wasn't going to be needed. Of course the guy was sort of pissed at being called over in the first place for no reason, but what would you expect.  
  
'That fixes Mokuba. Now for the harder one. . . Tea.'  
  
Kaiba traveled to his car and drove off towards her house. 'I only know of one thing that I can really do. She probably won't even forgive me after I do this. If I do this.'  
  
It didn't take him that long to get there. When he did, he didn't stop down the street. He parked right next to the house. Walking up to the front door he tapped on it lightly. 'You have to do this. You just have to. Don't give up. Do it for Tea.'  
  
The door opened slowly and he saw the face of her mother.  
  
"Hello, may I help you?" Her expression was flat. Sure she remembered him, he was that Kaiba character. That Kaiba character whom she thought she had gotten rid of.  
  
"Hello Mrs. Gardner. I know you must not be very happy to see me, but I don't think you or your husband are being very fair to your daughter."  
  
Her eyes narrowed a little. "And why would that be?"  
  
"Because you overreacted over this whole thing. Sure Tea stayed over at my place for a while. But it really wasn't that bad."  
  
"Oh it wasn't?"  
  
"No. It wasn't." He stared back at her flatly. "Now, let me explain this. You obviously didn't like my other explanation a few weeks ago. Especially since that was when you moved. I assume that was because you were trying to protect Tea from some sort of bad influence. But if you realize, just by the plain fact that I am standing before you, your original goal was not achieved."  
  
"All the more reason for her to not see you."  
  
The harsh parental gaze didn't waver him in the slightest. He was going to do this. Even if it killed him. "Mrs. Gardner, if you'll put aside the thought for a moment that I have done anything, then let me explain further. Yes, I'm here. Yes, I have followed Tea even when it seemed in all likelihood that I should just give up. And yes, if you were wondering, I am still dating her. So in fact your motive was not completed at all, whatsoever, it was a complete and total failure. I'm here to tell you, to move back. I can even pay for the move. I could pay for the whole House if you wanted. And no, I didn't steal the money. I own a company." He noticed the skeptic look on her face. "Ever heard of the Kaiba Corporation? Well you are looking at the soul owner. Gozaburo Kaiba was my adopted father, and he was the one who left it to me. I have a younger brother Mokuba. He lives in my mansion with me." Seto didn't care that Tea's mother wasn't really budging, while he was here, he was going to put all of his cards on the table. All of them. "Your daughter is in fact the first girlfriend I have ever had. She even stopped me from committing suicide twice."  
  
"Is that supposed to be comforting?"  
  
He smirked a little. "Not exactly. I used to cut my arms too, I even slashed my wrist one time and Tea took me to the hospital. I have done all these crazy things to myself, the backs of my arms were quite bloody and weak. I even went through a phase where I wasn't eating or sleeping. And do you know what? Tea stayed with me. Through all that she never gave up hope and she hung on with me."  
  
The worried expression on her mother's face stayed there.  
  
"You know what happened after Tea moved? I had followed the truck here. That's how I found you in the first place. But anyway, when I finally decided to come here and see how Tea was SHE was cutting."  
  
"That's a lie."  
  
Kaiba smirked again. "No, it's not. She was. But she's stopped now. In fact I sort of pinned her down with the knife at her throat. I know that's not a very reassuring thing to hear as a parent. After that I thought I'd killed everybody. I was going insane with all that and I kept seeing pictures in my head. And just recently I saw your daughter with this other guy that I had just beaten up the other day, Bakura. She was with him and then of course I was upset because I thought Tea hated me. And at this point she does. But that's because I started acting like my adopted father and thinking that emotions didn't matter at all." He paused for a breath of air and took it. "So you see, now that I've told you absolutely everything, you can't hold anything against me by saying that I lied to you, or kept something from you. I've told you everything. Now, are you going to move back? I'm perfectly happy to pay for the house. I'll even pay for all the taxes on THIS house until you sell it. And if you're still paranoid about your daughter being influenced by some insane freak like me. Well she's probably never going to forgive me for this last thing, so I doubt you have anything to worry about. So what do you say?"  
  
There was a pause and then her mother spoke out. "I'll have to talk this over with my husband. We'll call you when we've made a decision."  
  
Kaiba watched her shut the door and then he headed back to his car. "Well, I guess all I can do now is wait. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. It was just so-"  
  
"Stupid?"  
  
His eyes snapped up from the ground and he saw Tea glaring at him.  
  
"Tea?"  
  
"Yes Kaiba. It's Tea. Why did you just do that?"  
  
He looked back at the ground and muttered. "I-I thought it might help."  
  
"With what? With screwing up my life further?! You just told my mom that the person who I USED to date is some suicidal, homicidal, paranoid jerk!"  
  
"I-I'm sorry."  
  
"You know what? I give up! You're just too much of a psychopath for anybody to help! Go off on your own and cut yourself in half! See if I care!"  
  
"But Tea I-"  
  
"Shut up! It's your fault I'm here in the first place! I never should've even stayed at your place! I never should've even THOUGHT of helping you in the first place! You're just a wacky nutjob who thinks that he can go flashing in and out of being insane! Well, no thank you! I'll pass! I don't need that!" She flung her arms up in the air to emphasize her point. "Just leave me alone! Seto, Kaiba, whatever you're calling yourself today. Just shut up and get out of my life!!!" Stomping inside her house she slammed the front door.  
  
He winced as it shut and then headed back to his car. 'Well that went well.'  
  
********************  
  
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.  
  
"Yugi! Could you get that!"  
  
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.  
  
"Okay Grandpa!"  
  
Ring. Ring. Ri-  
  
Yugi ran down the stairs and snatched the phone off of the hanger. "Turtle Game Shop, how may I help you?"  
  
"YugiYugiYugi!!! You'll never guess!"  
  
He leaned against the counter. "Okay, yeah. What is it?"  
  
"WE'RE MOVING BACK!!!!!!!!"  
  
Snapping up a smile immediately spread on his face. "You are?!"  
  
"YesYesYes!!! And we get to come back NEXT WEEK!!! And guess what else?! My mom said I can stay at your place until then!!!""  
  
Doing a little hop skip he ran up to his room with the phone and started picking it up. "Really?! That's cool! Wait, I have to go ask Grandpa!" He bolted back down the stairs and shouted into the basement where the person of interest was. "Gandpa?! Can Tea stay over here for a while?!"  
  
He shouted back up at his grandson. "Why? Is something wrong?"  
  
"No! She's moving! And her parents said she could stay here until next week!"  
  
"Okay then! It's fine with me!"  
  
"Thank you!" Dashing back up to his room he dived onto his bed. "That's great! Grandpa said that you could stay!!!"  
  
"Cool!!!"  
  
Gasping for breath from being so excited Yugi tried to calm himself down. "So where are you going to come over?"  
  
"Today?"  
  
"Okay." With a huge grin he ran back downstairs and hung up the phone before going back up once more to set up the guestroom. All the while he was humming to himself. "Tea's moving baaaaack. Tea's coming hooooome. Tea's staying heeeeeeeeere. Tea's moving baaaaaack. Tea's coming hoooooome. Tea's staying heeeeeeere."  
  
******************  
  
Later that night Tea was sitting at the dinner table with Yugi and his grandpa. She had already gotten her stuff situated up in the room and after she and Yugi had been spazzing for about another hour after that they had started to calm down. Bringing them to this point, dinner.  
  
"So what made your parents change their mind?" Yugi glanced over at her full of curiosity.  
  
She shrugged. "Dunno. They just told me we were." Of course that wasn't that answer. It was because of Kaiba, but of course Tea wasn't going to tell Yugi that, or admit it to herself either.  
  
"Really? Well hey, if it gets you back here, it's good!"  
  
Tea smiled again and took another forkful. "Yup, it definitely is!"  
  
((Now people, Englasu has come to ask for a lovely vote from her nice reviewing friends ^^ do you want me to keep going? I know this fic has kind of taken a lopsided flip backwards and ish all confuzzled and turned around. But I need to know if you want me to keep going with it or just kinda kill it off as quick as I can. Tell me please, I need to know. And just to give you summing to think about, I'm probably going to write another Seto/Tea fic, it'll just be less crazy and possesed. But okay, just tell me what I should do, kill it, or keep going. It's up to you peeps. Submit your vote!)) 


	14. Walking

((Thanks everyone for telling me to keep going! Ish very very nice of you =) So I will, and now I leave and let you all read more. Later!))  
  
Kaiba right then was sitting downstairs on the couch, staring at the wall. 'Well at least she'll be happy again.' He'd already heard about Tea moving. Of he did, he was the one paying for it after all. That didn't really matter though, the money didn't matter even, he had enough of it, so even if Tea hated him at this point. He was happy for her.  
  
'I wonder what I should do now. I still haven't quite, how can I put it, returned. It's still there, that feeling that I shouldn't be doing this, the feeling that I really should have just kept them underneath me and not cared. But Mom, Dad. They would be so disappointed if I did that. But what do I care? . A lot.' Seto sighed and put a hand on his forehead. 'I swear I'm becoming a schizophrenic or something.'  
  
Slowly getting up he walked upstairs into his room. He grabbed the scissors off of his desk and smirked. Then walking out onto his balcony he sat on the edge holding the metal object in his hand. "Well, well Kaiba. What have we gotten ourselves into today? I've reviewed everything at this point. There's nothing left to analyze. Tea was right. You are the suicidal, homicidal, paranoid jerk that people think you are. And now, to add to the list, I'm going schizophrenic. He smiled as the feeling of being torn into two pieces took over him. "Now, we have to think about what we're about to do. Do we really want to do this? Does Seto want to? Does Kaiba want to? Does Seto Kaiba want to?"  
  
He stared at the scissors and then opened them a couple of times. "Is this really what we want to do? Or do we want to try and. Seto. Okay, now let's think about this. Kaiba had his chance. He screwed things up for Seto. Now we're at this middle point once more. Where Seto is mad at Kaiba and Kaiba doesn't give a shit. But of course why would Kaiba care? Kaiba doesn't have a reason for friends. Seto wants friends though, and Kaiba is ruining all his chance of that." His own voice reached his ears and he opened the scissors again. "And now I've lost it. Maybe not intentionally. Just listen to myself. Third person, Seto, Kaiba. Hello Seto. Welcome to the insane asylum Kaiba." He waved at nobody and then sighed again. "Why do I have to think so much? It would be so much easier if I didn't think so much. Then maybe I wouldn't have gotten into this in the first place."  
  
Sliding off the balcony he walked back inside and put the scissors down on the desk. Finally making up his decision. "So, this is it? Well. Then I guess I will." With a sigh he started heading out of his room. "Time to make peace between the three of us. Kaiba needs a serious mental adjustment, Seto needs to learn to be a little more kept in, and me." His voice trailed off. "I need to try and find a way to fix this so that it won't come back again."  
  
********************  
  
Now he was walking. He was just walking down the street in the middle of the night. It had been at least a couple of hours since he'd left home. But could he go back? 'Yes, I suppose so. Things with Mokuba are okay. He's family again, and I'm never going to let myself forget that.'  
  
Seto sighed for the mere billionth time that night as he stared up at the moon. "It would be really good for Mokuba to have normal family. Not one like mine. One with at least one parent who doesn't have more issues than the kids themselves. I wonder if." He blinked a few times as the thought crossed his mind. "I wonder if he'd really do that? It's possible, but it would be awkward. Mokuba would definitely enjoy living there for a while though. I could actually join them after a while too, or just visit. I don't need anyone to take pity on me." Bringing his wrist up he looked at his watch. 4:23. "It's too late to call anybody. I'll have to do it in the morning. Who should I trust with Mokuba though? Who would have the most normal family? Tea. but she'd never agree to it. Joey? Doubtful, very doubtful. Tristan? Possibly, but he'd probably react that same as Joey. So that leaves Yugi. I wonder if he'd do it. I'm sure HE would, but his Grandpa allowing him would be something different."  
  
Smirking he walked out further into the night. "Alright then, it's settled. Yugi will be entrusted with Mokuba. I can get by fine on my own, and it'll be good for Mokuba to have a normal family for a change." He sighed yet again. "If only things were so easy for me." 'No, that's just wishful thinking. There's no point to it.' "Even though." 'Why does everything have to be so difficult?' "I guess it just is." 'Most likely.'  
  
"So Gozaburo. I see you finally got what you wanted. Seto's all alone and by himself, and it's your fault. Do you need some more programs? I think I could get them right at this point. Mom, Dad, hello. I'm taking good care of Mokuba. He'll be just fine. Don't worry about me. I can get through this by myself." 'And yes, I am going insane and talking to absolutely nobody. But as I'm assuming, it's normal. People all have a spout of insanity every once in a while. Right now it's just my turn.' "Now, I'm going to call Yugi if you don't mind. Even if he is asleep, he doesn't need it, so I'm going to call him."  
  
Flipping out his cell phone he punched in Yugi's number and listen to the ring until a groggy answer came from the other end.  
  
"Mm-hm. Hello?"  
  
"Hello Yugi. I have called on behalf of my brother. I was wondering if you would be as so kind to take care of him for a while until Seto Kaiba, or whoever this insane freak of a person you're talking to, can get his head together."  
  
"Mm. What?"  
  
This time he went a little slower. "Yugi, it's me Kaiba, Seto, whoever. I want you to take care of Mokuba at your house for a while. Currently I'm in a sort of state that I'm afraid I might end up hurting him."  
  
"But I thought you didn't care?"  
  
So Yugi was slowly waking up. "I know I said that, but I didn't mean it. I did then, but not anymore. It's a confusing situation. That was Kaiba talking, this as the moment is Seto Kaiba, Seto's the one who yelled at Kaiba for making Mokuba cry earlier."  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. Now, will you take care of Mokuba or should I call you again later so you have time to think about it?"  
  
"Later." Yugi started trailing off again.  
  
"Fine, I'll call before school starts today. Don't be surprised if I'm not there. I'm still working things out." He then hung up the phone and shoved it into his pocket. 'Later, seven. I'll ask again when he's actually awake.'  
  
********************  
  
Later that morning Yugi was fidgeting by the door. 'He said he'd call before school started.' Looking down at his watch he fidgeted a little more. 'It's already almost eight. If he doesn't call soon then I'm gonna be late for school.'  
  
Ten minutes later the phone still hadn't made a noise. So Yugi gave up and bolted out the door on his way in hopes that he wouldn't be late.  
  
********************  
  
Tea at lunch was sitting there hugging the table while Joey and Tristan were laughing.  
  
"Hello table. I missed you. Did you miss me too? Nice table, good table."  
  
Joey was sitting there with a smile on his face and when he noticed Yugi it grew even wider. "Hey Yug! Guess what? Tea's gonna marry the table."  
  
She jerked upright and glared at him. "No I'm not! I just haven't been here for a while. Is there something wrong with that?"  
  
Tristan shrugged. "Depends, is petting inanimate objects a normal thing for you?"  
  
Tea just rolled her eyes and smiled. "You guys."  
  
All the worries that Yugi had been having that morning about Kaiba wiped themselves out of his brain as he watched his friends. 'Maybe he didn't call. Maybe I just dreamed it.'  
  
********************  
  
The high pitched beeping of his watch woke Seto up. Raising his head off of the brick wall in the back of the alley he looked at the thing which had woken him. 11:32. 'Well, so much for seven.' Getting up he brushed himself off and walked out from between the brick walls and started walking in the same direction he had been before he took his rest. The thought crossed his mind slightly that he may have looked like some sort of homeless person sleeping in the back of an alley, but oh well. 'I hope Mokuba got to school okay.' Shoving his hands in his pockets he gave a small shiver as he continued walking on in his now slightly dampened clothes. 'The only problem with sleeping outdoors is that it's not very dry. Awe well, not like it matters anyway.' He kept walking as thoughts began flooding his mind again. At this point he'd turned off his cell phone, he knew he'd need to save the battery for later. Another thing came into his head and he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening it up he ran his finger through the bills. 'That should be enough for at least a week or so. I'll be fine.'  
  
*******************  
  
In the middle of dinner that night the phone began ringing. Jumping up from the table Yugi answered.  
  
"Hello? Who is it?"  
  
"Hello Yugi."  
  
He covered the mouthpiece a second. "I'm gonna take this upstairs Grandpa."  
  
"Alright then."  
  
Running up the stairs Yugi went into his room and shut the door. "Hey Kaiba. Did you call me last night?"  
  
"Actually more like very early this morning, I'm surprised you remembered."  
  
"Why did you call so late?"  
  
"Never mind that. Are you going to take Mokuba in or not? Remember my question? I asked you if it would be alright if Mokuba stayed at your place until I got back."  
  
Yugi glanced around with a puzzled look on his face. "Um, I think we can, but. Where are you?"  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
This worried him slightly. "You mean you don't know?"  
  
"I've been walking."  
  
"How long for?"  
  
"Does it really matter?"  
  
"Kinda."  
  
"Probably around six hours today. Last night I walked another seven before I slept."  
  
"Where did you sleep?"  
  
"That doesn't matter."  
  
"Um. yeah. okay." Yugi started shifting his feet around uncomfortably. "So when do you think you're going to be coming back?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"That doesn't sound very like you."  
  
"Yugi, I'll be fine. Tell whoever you want, I don't care. I'm just trying to find who I am. Kaiba, Seto, I don't know. If you try and send anyone after me though. I'm afraid that it will be your last time to hear from me, if you know what I mean."  
  
He nodded knowing very well what he meant. "Yeah, okay. I'll get Mokuba over here as soon as possible."  
  
"Thank you Yugi. I'm going now. This battery needs to last me another few days."  
  
Yugi was about to say something but he was answered with the dial tone. "Well, um. I better go get Mokuba."  
  
Running back down the stairs he grabbed his coat off the hanger and went to the door where he shouted back to Tea and his grandpa. "I'm going to go pick up Mokuba! Be back in a bit!"  
  
He shut the door behind him and started heading towards the mansion. 'This is kind of weird. I wonder how long he's going to be gone for.'  
  
******************  
  
Mokuba heard the door open and he peeked over the top of the couch. "Seto?"  
  
There was a brief silence and then Yugi came around the corner.  
  
"Um. Hey Mokuba. You're brother asked me to come get you."  
  
Walking around to stand in front of Yugi, Mokuba stared at him. "Why? Is something wrong with him? Did something bad happened?"  
  
"Oh, no, nothing bad happened. He's okay. He just asked me to take care of you while he's gone. Um, so, I'm here to take you back to my house."  
  
Mokuba looked at the floor and nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll come. Just let me pack my stuff." Turning away from the violet gaze he headed upstairs into his room where he started stuffing things into a bag. 'When are you going to be back Seto? Why are you leaving me like this brother?' 


	15. Recovered

((Oh, this just hit me. But if any of you people are offended by all the blonde jokes I use on Joey, don't be. I'm blondeish myself ^_^ And all of us blonde people know that we really aren't stupid. So ANYway, just had to say that. Enjoy!))  
  
Seto finally sat down on a bench. It was night two. Time? 3:01. Was he tired? Yes. Did he want to go to sleep? Yes. Was he going to be able to? No.  
  
'So should I.? I don't know. It seems like the thing to do, but I would be putting everything on the line. Am I willing to make myself a vulnerable target just over some one person? But it's Tea. She hates me. But I don't hate her for hating me. How can she ever forgive me?' He smacked himself on the forehead. 'Stupid Kaiba! Stupid stupid stupid Kaiba! How could you do that?' Sighing he shook his head. 'Well, I don't know. I just don't know. I'm just so confused. I really want to get back with her, but at the very exact same moment I don't. So which one do I pick? Or should I just let things happen and allow my actions to take over my thoughts? So far the only time things bad have been going on, it's when I'm thinking. Why do I have to think so much?!'  
  
He stood up again and made his weary limbs trudge on further. 'I have to think of something though. If it eventually comes to that, then so be it, but until that becomes my final decision. I'm going to try and solve this in some sort of logical way.'  
  
*******************  
  
"Tuesdays should die. Why do we always have to have a history test on Tuesdays? I didn't even get a chance to study. Why can't we just not have history tests? I think all the tests in the world should get sucked into some sort of black hole or something."  
  
Joey was grumbling on his way home with the hated paper in his hand. "I can't believe I got a D. Heh, D for how dead I'm gonna be. I got some history for ya, me, cause that's what I'm going to be when I get home."  
  
Tristan smiled and patted his back. "Hey, it's not your fault man. blonde's are naturally dumb."  
  
"Shut up Trist."  
  
"No I'm serious! Just blame your parents for giving you blonde hair. Then they can't get mad at you. It's their fault you're just so stupid."  
  
"Shut up Trist."  
  
"I don't get a great excuse like that. If I get a bad grade I have to face the music. I don't have a blonde mess on my head that's sucking out my brain cells."  
  
Joey stomped down hard on Tristan's toes and watched his friend dance around in pain before starting to walk again. "I told ya to shut up."  
  
Tea and Yugi were walking up behind them. Seeing the hopping Tristan, Tea smiled and giggled. "Maybe Joey's not the only blonde one."  
  
After recovering from his injured foot Tristan hung back with Tea and stared at Joey's back up ahead. "Oh are you talking about Yugi, Tea? I guess you're right, he does have some blondeness to him."  
  
Yugi rolled his eyes and stopped at the corner. "I have to go pick up Mokuba. You guys wanna come?"  
  
Joey was deaf and kept grumbling to himself ahead of the gang, but Tristan stared down at his short friend. "Why are you picking up Mokuba?"  
  
Tea answered for him. "Mokuba's staying at Yugi's. Same with me."  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Is he running some sort of a hotel or something?"  
  
"No, no. Tea's parents said she could stay at my place until they move back so that she can get back into school earlier. Mokuba's staying just because he was all by himself in the mansion." Yugi smiled and started heading towards the elementary school.  
  
"Yeah, okay, I'm not even gonna ask why. Later Yugi." He waved and then ran off after Joey.  
  
"I'm gonna go back to the shop. See you in a bit." Tea kept walked off in that direction as the happy crew split up for the afternoon.  
  
**********************  
  
Night three and he was still walking. There had been some brief stops to get food, but other than that nothing. By this time his clothes had that old clammy feeling that started clinging to him even though he'd only slept one of those three nights. He'd tried to sleep the others. but he couldn't. Too much was going through his head for him to sleep. Too many questions were tormenting him for him to relax even a little.  
  
Seto was plodding along the side of the road. The sidewalk had disappeared, possibly twenty miles back, but that was fine, it didn't matter anyway. 'So I've resolved that. It's not Seto, it's not Kaiba, it's Seto Kaiba. I care for Mokuba; I care for Tea, the list of people that are even remotely close to me amounts to five. The two mentioned before, and also Yugi, Joey, and Tristan. I do have emotions, and I do care for people. So I'm slightly closed off and like to keep to myself, but that's okay. I am fairly intelligent, possibly a little arrogant, I tend to ignore the opinions of others and to push them away even if I inwardly want them to help. I'm not really insane, and I'm not really homicidal. I do tend to loose my temper every so often, but if I can manage to control that from now on it should fix some problems.' A light mist slowly began to set in as he continued forward. 'Now that I've done a basic analysis it's time to start thinking of what I'm going to do to continue on in that state without altering it as best I can. Maybe the only way is to stop thinking and let things just happen. No, there has to be something that I can plan, something that I can control and know what the outcome is going to be.'  
  
**********************  
  
Mokuba was sleeping on the couch and it wasn't very comfortable. After an hour or so of tossing and turning he finally decided to get up and go get a late night snack.  
  
Pulling his head out of the fridge with two bottles of soda in his arms and a packet of pepperoni held in his mouth he went over to the table and dumped the stuff down. Then he ran over and grabbed a glass. While he was on his way back to the table the phone started ringing.  
  
'Who could be calling this late at night?'  
  
He went and picked it up.  
  
"Motou residence. Who is it please."  
  
".Hey kid."  
  
"Seto?!" Mokuba's face exploded into a smile. "Hi Seto, how are you? I missed you. Are you coming home? Is everything okay now? Are we going back to the mansion? Are you coming over right now to pick me up?"  
  
There was a slight chuckle from the other end. "Sorry Mokuba. Not just yet. I'm fine, thanks. How are things working out over there?"  
  
Mokuba's heart sank a little, but he remained cheerful all the same. "Oh, it's fine. Yugi's making me feel really at home. Tea's over here too. Did you know she's moving back? Isn't that great?"  
  
"Yeah Mokuba. It really is."  
  
He noted the decrease in Seto's tone. "You okay?"  
  
"Yes, yes. I'm fine."  
  
"When do you think you're going to come home?"  
  
"Probably not for a while yet."  
  
"Awe."  
  
"Just hang in there for a bit kiddo. I'll come back as soon as I'm sure of what to do." There was a slight pause. "Be patient. Good things come to those who wait."  
  
Mokuba gave a little smile. "Okay. Are you going to call again tomorrow?"  
  
"Most likely."  
  
"Great! I'll talk to ya then."  
  
"Yup, bye Mokuba."  
  
"Bye." He hung up the phone with a new bounce to his step. Seto was back on his way to being the normal big brother he'd loved all these years. Taking a small case out of his pocket he clicked it open and stared at the smiling face of his brother when he was little. "G'night Seto."  
  
***********************  
  
Tea was twiddling with the food on her plate at lunch as she listened to Joey and Tristan insulting each other, as usual. She didn't know why she was depressed, even if it was just a little. She should have been the happiest person on earth. Her parents had finally decided to move back, she was getting to stay at her friend's house until then, and everything was going back to being normal and peachy.  
  
'But then what's missing?' She sighed and stabbed a piece of fruit. Picking it up off the plate she stared at it. 'Maybe I'm just a little homesick. That'll all be better by Saturday.' Tea then slid the fruit off the fork and into her mouth as she chewed it slowly. 'Why do I think that that somehow isn't it.'  
  
******************  
  
Tea was sitting up in the guestroom doing her homework methodically. The math problems in front of her just seemed to drawl on and on, and she sighed as she leaned over onto the desk.  
  
Just then the phone started ringing and she jerked up with a smile. 'Sanctuary!' With a happy smile she ran down the stairs and picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello? Who is it?"  
  
"Hello dear, how are things going?"  
  
"Oh, just fine Mom. How is the packing?"  
  
"Hectic as usual, but what would you expect? Anyway, that's not why I called. I was hoping that you wouldn't mind giving your grandmother a visit tomorrow. It's been so long since any of us stopped by, and your father and I can't do it since we're obviously busy with the move. So would you mind honey?"  
  
Tea shrugged. "Sure, okay. I'll make sure to tell her that you guys said hi."  
  
"Thanks. We'll see you on Friday then?"  
  
"Okay Mom, bye."  
  
Hanging up the phone Tea shrugged with a slight smile. 'Well, at least it will give me something else to do tomorrow. I'll have to ask if I can borrow the car.'  
  
*********************  
  
Now it was night four. Walking, Seto was still walking, still thinking, still trying to find some way to get his life back into one piece.  
  
'I should never have done that. Maybe if I had believed in myself more things would've turned out differently.' He sighed and stared down at the ground in front of him. 'Maybe I should have run away. No, that would've left Mokuba. I'm sure Gozaburo would've started sinking his teeth into Mokuba if I had left. So I did do the right thing, it was the right thing to stay and go through it. Did I give up hope? Was that what made it all so bad? That I gave up hope that it would all get better?' A few blurred images passed through his mind of those years of training. 'I did. I did give up hope. But Mokuba never did. Every time I came out of that accursed office Mokuba would be standing there, waiting for me.' He gave a brief smile. 'Mokuba knew, Mokuba trusted me to hold on. That's why I kept going. for Mokuba. The kid's always been there for me, even if he never said anything. I think he knew what was going on. That's why he was always waiting for me. He wanted to make sure I was okay, just to make sure that I hadn't given up yet, just to check that I was still hanging in there.'  
  
Still with the slight smile he shook his head. 'If only I had trusted others like that. I should have trusted others to take care of me, just like Mokuba. That's what got me into this whole mess in the first place. I never trusted anyone, so maybe if I put myself into someone else's hands for a change. I'll learn. I'll learn to trust them just like Mokuba trusts me.'  
  
*******************  
  
Tomorrow had come and Tea was walking in the door with Yugi and Mokuba after another average day of school. As she was heading on her way upstairs the thought of what her mom had asked her to do popped into her mind. Turning back to face Yugi who was getting something out of the fridge she asked, "Hey Yugi, can I borrow the car for the afternoon? My mom asked me to visit my grandmother's, and it's like two hours away, so could I?"  
  
Walking over with a can of soda he shrugged. "I don't know. You'll have to ask Grandpa. He's in charge of the keys."  
  
She nodded. "Oh, okay. Where is he?"  
  
Another shrug and he started heading for the living room as he opened the can. "He had to go pick up a shipment. He'll probably be back in an hour or something."  
  
"Okay." With that she ran upstairs and pulled her stuff out of her bag. 'At least I'll have time to do my homework then.'  
  
********************  
  
Tea heard the door slam just as she finished putting away her now finished schoolwork. With a little smile she ran down the stairs and waited patiently at the base of them as she watched Yugi's Grandpa walk in with a box and put it down on the counter. Just when he opened it and was about to start putting whatever was inside away she piped up.  
  
"Could I borrow the car please?"  
  
He turned to face her. "What do you need the car for?"  
  
"My mom asked me to visit my grandmother today. I don't want to bother you to take me, and I know the way. So could I please use it?"  
  
He smiled and reached into his pocket. "Alright, just make sure you get back at a reasonable hour. I don't want your parents on me about how I let their daughter run around all night." Chucking the keys over in her direction he smiled again and went back to what he had been doing.  
  
"Thank you." With a little perk she headed out the door and jumped into the car and headed on her way towards her grandma's place.  
  
*******************  
  
"Um. maybe I went the wrong way."  
  
Tea glanced from side to side in the car. Her little two-hour trip had grown into a lengthy five hour one. and now it was getting dark.  
  
She pulled off to the side of the road for a minute and reached into the glove compartment. Fiddling her hand around in there for a while she pulled out some gum, tissues, cards, CDs. 'Don't they have enough room for a few maps?' Giving a frustrated sigh she closed the compartment again. 'Now what am I gonna do?'  
  
Staring down the road and watching the cars go by for a couple of minutes she then noticed a figure walking past her window and continuing on from there. With a little hope Tea pulled up next to them.  
  
"Excuse me."  
  
The person just kept walking with their hands shoved into their pockets and staring at the ground.  
  
Pulling forward a little more she tried again.  
  
"Um, excuse me. Could you please tell me where I am?"  
  
The person stopped and they raised their head, obviously hearing her for the first time. Then turning to face her with the hand on the back of their neck he responded.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't live around here I'm just passing." His eyes grew wide as he stared at her mouth agape. "Tea?"  
  
She blinked a couple of times just as surprised as he seemed to be.  
  
Kaiba stepped forward and stared down at her face in the window. "Tea? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Um, I, um. Wait, what are YOU doing here?"  
  
Getting that stern look on his face he crossed his arms. "If you must know, I was taking a little walk."  
  
Tea's eyes spread. "Out HERE? How long have you been walking for?"  
  
He shrugged, "About five days."  
  
"Five days?!"  
  
The expression remained blank. "Yes, five days. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to continue." Turning away he started again as Tea followed him in her car slowly. Stopping again he stared at her. "Why are you following me?"  
  
She tapped her finger on the steering wheel. "Get in the car Seto. You're gonna get like mugged or something if you keep going."  
  
"No, I won't, I'll be fine." Walking again he got a couple feet away before his weary legs gave way underneath him so that he was forced into a kneel.  
  
Seeing this, Tea stopped the car and got out. As she stepped up beside Kaiba she grabbed onto his arm and helped him up. "Seto, you're falling over, just get in the car. Trust me, you'll feel a lot better once you get home."  
  
He stopped and halted, not allowing her to help him another inch as he stared straight into her face. 'Trust her? Of all the people to come and find me, Tea does. and now, of all the things to say, she asks me to trust her.? Why is she still trying to help me? Why, after everything. Why is she trying to help me after what I've done to her?' "Tea?"  
  
"Um, yeah Seto?"  
  
"Let's try this." Taking her arm away from him he took a step back. "Let's start over, so. Hello, I'm Seto Kaiba, a normal teenage guy who doesn't have any issues. Who are you?"  
  
Her eyebrow raised and she crossed her arms. "What?"  
  
"I'm Seto Kaiba, a normal teenage guy who doesn't have any issues and would like to know who you may be."  
  
Tea gave a slight roll of the eyes and sighed. "Okay, I'll bite. I'm Tea Gardner. Would you like me to take you home Seto?"  
  
Kaiba gave a small smile and headed over to the passengers side and got in. "I would appreciate that. Thank you very much Tea."  
  
*****************  
  
Tea helped Seto into the mansion, as much as he would let her anyway, and walked over to the couch with him. "I have to give some people a call, okay?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
Heading back into the kitchen she picked the phone off the wall and dialed Yugi's number. Then placing the phone to her ear she waited until there was an answer.  
  
"Turtle game shop, who is it please?"  
  
"Hey Yugi, it's Tea. I just called to tell you-"  
  
"Where have you been all this time? We were calling around to see what had happened to you. I was really worried."  
  
"Yugi, I-"  
  
"Are you okay? Did something happen?"  
  
"No, I'm fine. I got a little lost, that's all."  
  
"So everything is okay?"  
  
"Yes, everything is fine. I'll be over in a like ten minutes or something."  
  
"Okay, see ya then."  
  
"Yup. Bye." She hung up the phone and then walked back into the living room where Kaiba was sitting on the couch staring at the wall. "So? Are you gonna tell me what happened?"  
  
Avoiding eye contact he sent his gaze at the floor. "Oh, that. I was just thinking. I sort of needed to get my head together." Looking up he flashed a brief smile with a shrug. "Lost myself for a while there, but we all go through something of the sort eventually. Life goes on."  
  
Tea stared over at him. "Are you okay? You're acting sort of, how do I put this. different."  
  
He smiled again. "Nothing's wrong. Really, and I'm going to be just fine. The world will keep spinning without me being depressed all the time I figure."  
  
"Are you sure you're okay?" A skeptic glance was sent his way. "This isn't just some little phase or anything?"  
  
Seto crossed his arms and leaned back into the cushions as he looked over at her in the chair across from him. "Nope. It's all okay, unless you have a problem with that." A little smirked played on his face. "Or do you not like guys without mental issues?"  
  
"I don't get how you can go from being totally ballistic, to totally normal in a few days."  
  
"You want me to explain?"  
  
"Um. do I?" She bit her lip a little nervously.  
  
With a chuckle he shook his head. "Let's just say that I've figured a couple things out that I didn't know before. Which reminds me-" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Punching in a number another small smile appeared on his face.  
  
"Hey Yugi, is Mokuba there? . Okay. ... Hey Mokuba. . Yeah, it's me. Guess what? . No, it's not that. . Not that either. . Do you really want to know? . Okay, well figure this out; What's small, hyper, and going to be coming home in a few minutes? . Right on the head kiddo. I'll be over in a few, get your stuff together." Hanging up the phone he stood up and started heading for the door but stopped and sent a backwards glance at Tea. "Are you coming? I know you have to go to Yugi's too."  
  
Getting up herself she walked over and looked at him curiously. "How'd you know I was staying at Yugi's?"  
  
"Mokuba told me, and it makes sense since you're moving back this Saturday."  
  
She gave him another curios look as she followed him out the door. "Did Mokuba tell you that too?"  
  
Kaiba just shook his head.  
  
"Then how did you-"  
  
"Let's just say I'm helping a little. Forget about it." Without another word he climbed into his own car and started it as Tea climbed into the one she was driving and followed him back to Yugi's place.  
  
*******************  
  
Mokuba had firmly latched himself onto his brother's leg as they walked back into the mansion later that night. Seto was back! Seto was home! Seto was back and all was good! Seto was back again! Seto was here to take care of him!  
  
He gave another squeeze to the leg with a huge grin planted on his features and heard the chuckle from above as the purple hat was pulled over his eyes by his big brother. Seto was home!!!!!!!!!!! 


	16. I'm Sorry

Saturday had finally come for Tea, and to put it mildly.. She was ecstatic.  
  
Her smile could not have gotten any bigger if someone had put a banana in her mouth. She was just really, really, REALLY happy.  
  
"Hello Kitchen!"  
  
Tea waved at the room before skipping into the next.  
  
"Hello living room!"  
  
More skipping and she was up the stairs.  
  
"Hello bathroom!"  
  
And with one last spout of skipping she went into her room and flung herself down on the floor with the jumbled assortment of furniture and boxes around her.  
  
"Hello room!" She smiled, giggled, and waved at the ceiling before grabbing the phone up in her hand. After plugging the cord into the jack she speedily dialed the number, still with her happy spazz attack bubbling around her.  
  
"Hey, who is it?"  
  
"Joey!"  
  
"Wassup girl?"  
  
"I'm in my room! And it's my room! And I'm in it! And I'm in my room!"  
  
"Hey, that's cool. Are you unpacked yet?"  
  
Smiling and giggling she twirled a lock of her hair. "Not yet. I haven't even started, hehe, but everything is in the house. Just not quite organized."  
  
"Want me to get the other guys and we'll come help?"  
  
"Yeah! That'd be great. I'll see you in a little bit then, kay?"  
  
"Yup, later."  
  
Tea hung up the phone and rolled over to hang it up. Then giving another happy giggle she rolled back into the middle of the room and stared up at the ceiling again and grinned from ear to ear.. Life was good.  
  
*******************  
  
Kaiba scanned his eyes down the screen as he caught up on what had happened while he was gone. The company had survived, of course he was going to have to spend some serious time working to make up for all the lost time. but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.  
  
'Well, here we are. I'm back, thanks to Tea finding me.' He sighed. 'I wonder if she's really forgiven me. She certainly was acting like it, but then again things were being the way they had always used to be. I ignoring my own health, and Tea coming to the rescue. Things shouldn't be like that, so they aren't going to be. I'm going to take care of myself, and Mokuba.' The thought trickled through his brain of how he was going to start trusting people and everything but he crammed it out again. 'I'll just call her. That will tell me if she really is still mad at me or not, and then we'll make our decision from there.'  
  
Now Seto had finished catching up while he had been thinking, and so he pulled the phone out of his pocket and twirled around in his seat so that he was facing away from his desk. Punching in the number he shook his head as a final thought came into his mind of how to partially mend all that had happened.  
  
Ring. Ring. Ring.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Tea, it's me."  
  
There was a slight decrease in her tone of voice. "Oh, um, hey Seto."  
  
"I need to talk to you, about some things. I think you'd best be in a room by yourself."  
  
"Um, okay." There was a pause and the sound of a door shutting. "Okay, what's this about?"  
  
"Tea. First thing, I wanted to say thank you for driving me home yesterday."  
  
"That's fine, it was no big deal."  
  
"Another thing I wanted to ask you was, well, are you still mad at me for telling your mom all those things? Do you still mean what you said?"  
  
A long pause came from Tea's side until she faltered through an answer. "Well, I still don't think you should have done that. but I guess I wouldn't be exactly mad. I've had some time to think about it, and maybe I was being a little mean."  
  
Kaiba exhaled a shaky sigh and closed his eyes as he braced his self for what he was about to do. "You had every right to be mad Tea. Now, I've had a lot of time to think too, and I think the best thing for both of us would be. in our current relationship.. Tea, I don't think we should see each other anymore."  
  
He heard the sound of pain and surprise in her reply. "What?"  
  
"I don't think we should see each other anymore.."  
  
"B-But why?"  
  
"It would be in everybody's best interest to just let things go back to the way they were. I'm really sorry Tea. I don't want to hurt your feelings. I just think that you'll be happier if you weren't in a relationship with me. I hope you understand. It's better for both of us."  
  
"Seto I don't- Why?"  
  
Shaking his head yet again Kaiba ran his fingers through his hair. "I've only been hurting you this entire time. You shouldn't have ever been involved in the first place. It really would just be better for us to go back to the way things were. Then there won't have to be any more sacrifices that we have to make. Again, I hope you understand. It's very hard for me to do this, but I think it's ultimately the best decision. Please don't be upset. I hope you can forgive me someday. For now though, I'm going to say goodbye, and I apologize for having to do this to you. But I mean it with the best intentions. Now I hope that you can enjoy the rest of your weekend besides all this, so. Goodbye Tea."  
  
He sighed again and turned the phone off before she could answer. Then swiveling his chair back around he began to type and try to bury his thoughts in work. 'Tea, I'm so sorry.'  
  
((Guess whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. =D BWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!! I AM EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!! \/_\/ Sorry, calming down. but ANYway, guess what? That's the end of the sequel!!! ^_^ Aren't I just so nice? You get to be left off riiiiight there. =D But dun worry, all will be well again. I'm writing a sequel to the sequel. I'm gonna have a trilogy! WOOHOO! \/_\/ Calming down, once again. But I hope you peeps liked what this one held for you. And I'm going to have the beginning of the next one out as soon as possible ^_^ So later peeps, keep reading, keep reviewing and making people happy ^_^ Until next time: Englasu is signing out! LATER!)) 


	17. Author's Note

((Okie, here is the nice little author's note for you peeps again. Title of the next on is "Mending Broken Pieces" ....Have fun!)) 


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